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R154.Ea7Sa5         Memoirs  of  Pliny  Ear 


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MEMOIRS 


PLINY  EARLE,  M.D., 

WITH 

EXTRACTS   FROM    HIS   DIARY  AND   LETTERS    (1830-1892) 
AND    SELECTIONS    FROM    HIS    PROFESSIONAL    WRITINGS    (1839-1891). 


^iteb,  &jit|[  a  (General  Introtitictfoti,  62 
F.  B.  SANBORN,  of  Concord, 

Former  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  State  Charities  of  Massachusetts  and  Inspector  of  Charities. 


'  Genius  must  learn  the  language  of  facts." — Emerson. 


BOSTON: 

DAMRELL    &    UPHAM, 

%\z  ®Ii)  dtoraw  foobtorc, 

283  Washington  Street. 
1898. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGES 

Introduction vii-xvi 

I.     Birth,  Ancestry,  and  Childhood 1-28 

II.     Observations   in    New    England    and    Philadel- 
phia (1827-37) 29-60 

III.  England  Sixty  Years  Since 61-93 

IV.  France,  Switzerland,  and  Italy 94-119 

V.     Greece,  Turkey,  and  Malta  (1838-39)     ....  120-143 

VI.     Beginning  Professional  Life 144-153 

VII.     Asylum  Labors  and  Experience 154-162 

VIII.     The  German  Asylums ^ 163-186 

IX.     Biding  his  Time 187-201 

X.     Cuba  in  Days  of  the  Slave-trade 202-219 

XI.     New  York  and  Washington 220-239 

XII.     Things  seen  and  heard  in  War 240-260 

XIII.  Northampton  and  the  Curability  Controversy  261-279 

XIV.  Lessons  and  Incidents  of  a  Long  Life   ....  280-315 

APPENDIX 317-394 

I.     Publications  of  Dr.  Earle      317-377 

1.  List  of  Writings 317-320 

2.  Selections  from  "  Thirteen  Visits  " 321-333 

3.  German  Asylums  in  1852 334-341 

4.  Color-blindness  in  1844-45 342-361 

5.  Popular  Fallacies  in  Regard  to  Insanit}'    ....  361-371 

6.  The  Curability'  of  Insanity 372-377 

II.     Notes  and  Documents 378-394 

7.  The  Artist  Earles 378-382 

8.  Reminiscences  by  Dr.  Earle,  etc 383-386 

9.  Reminiscences  by  the  Rev.  S.  IVIay 386-390 

10.  Last  Will  of  Dr.  Earle 390-394 


Index 395-409 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  writing  the  life  of  an  American  alienist  who  began  his 
observations  on  his  insane  countrymen  nearly  sixty-five  years 
ago,  and  traversed  Europe,  inspecting  asylums,  in  1837-8-9, 
one  is  reminded  of  the  saying  of  that  aged  Roman  who  was 
brought  to  trial  before  the  third  generation  of  his  countrymen, 
"  It  is  hard  to  plead  my  cause  when  all  the  witnesses  of  my 
life  are  dead."  So  great  have  been  the  changes,  so  incessant 
the  progress,  in  the  study  of  insanity,  its  care  and  treatment, 
that  no  single  life,  however  prolonged,  can  be  justly  expected 
to  measure  them  or  keep  pace  with  them.  That  my  friend  Dr. 
Earle  did  so  in  a  marked  degree,  and  was  at  his  death  in  1892 
in  advance  of  his  survivors  in  some  points,  as  during  his  life 
he  had  been  before  his  associates  in  nearly  all,  is  one  of  his 
chief  claims  to  remembrance  by  those  who  knew  not  his  firm, 
gentle,  and  beneficent  personality.  But,  in  order  to  understand 
how  this  was  so,  the  reader  needs  to  know  something  of  the 
history  of  insanity  and  its  treatment  in  America  up  to  the 
present  time. 

Sydney  Smith  used  to  speak  of  certain  events  as  occurring 
"before  the  invention  of  common  sense"  ;  and  the  traditional, 
often  the  scientific,  treatment  of  madness  and  melancholy  in 
centuries  past  fell  within  that  absurd  period.  A  curious 
edition  of  ^sop's  Fables  in  Latin,  printed  at  Exeter,  N.H.,  in 
1799,  contained,  for  the  edification  of  Dr.  Abbott's  pupils  at 
the  Phillips  Academy,  this  account  of  "  The  Doctor  who  took 
Care  of  Insane  Men  "  :  — 

There  was  a  doctor  of  medicine  living  at  Milan  who  undertook  to 
cure  the  insane,  if  they  were  brought  to  him  before  a  certain  stage 
in  their  malady ;  and  his  treatment  was  after  this  sort.  He  had  a 
court-yard  near  his  house,  and  in  it  a  pool  of  filthy  water,  in  which 


Vlll  ABSURDITIES    OF    TREATING    THE    INSANE 

he  tied  them  to  a  post,  naked.  Some  of  them  were  in  up  to  their 
knees,  some  up  to  the  middle,  others  deeper  still,  according  to  the 
degree  of  their  madness ;  and  he  gave  them  water  treatment  in  this 
way  until  they  appeared  to  be  sane.  Now  one  man  was  brought 
to  him  among  others,  whom  he  set  in  the  water  up  to  his  thighs. 
After  a  fortnight  he  began  to  grow  sane,  and  begged  the  doctor  to 
take  him  out  of  the  puddle.  This  he  did,  and  so  relieved  him  of 
the  torment,  but  with  the  understanding  that  he  should  not  go  out- 
side the  court-yard.  When  this  condition  was  complied  with  for  a 
few  days,  he  allowed  the  patient  to  go  all  about  the  house,  only  he 
must  not  go  through  the  gate.  His  fellow-sufferers,  not  a  few,  re- 
mained in  the  water ;  but  he  took  pains  to  obey  the  doctor,  and  so 
recovered,  remembering  nothing  of  what  he  had  seen  before  he  was 
crazy. 

Stupid  as  this  treatment  was,  it  was  reason  itself  when  com- 
pared with  the  exorcism  of  demons  long  practised  by  the  rever- 
end clergy,  and  with  the  mystic  curative  quality  of  the  relics 
of  St.  Dymphna  at  Gheel,  in  Belgium,  first  observed  in  the 
eighth  century.  The  New  England  Puritans,  in  the  days  of 
Salem  witchcraft,  still  believed  in  demoniac  possession,  and 
had  few  remedies  but  the  "  dark  house "  of  Malvolio,  and 
prayers  by  the  parson,  for  the  frequent  insanity  of  ministers 
and  their  wives.*  Then  came  a  change  for  the  better,  though 
accompanied  by  Dr.  Rush's  profuse  bleeding,  and  the  aid  of 
cold  water,  chains,  and  the  whip,  all  which  seem  to  have 
been  in  use  in  the  first  American  asylum  for  the  insane, 
opened  at  Philadelphia,  under  Dr.  Franklin's  eye,  in  1752.  It 
was  there  that  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  an  acute  and  observant 
physician,  had  his  long  experience  with  the  insane,  which  bore 
fruit    in    his    once    popular    and    still    interesting   work    on 

*  The  clerical  profession  give  up  very  slowly  their  theories  of  mental  and  spiritual  things.  Dr. 
Hirsch,  in  his  "Genius  and  Degeneration"  in  answer  to  Max  Nordau,  cites  this  curious  recent  utter- 
ance of  German  parsons :  "  At  a  meeting  of  the  German  '  Union  of  Evangelical  Curates  of  the  Insane ' 
Rev.  Von  Bodelschwingh,  while  admitting  that  medico-scientific  psychiatry  had  done  good  service  in 
the  recognition,  treatment,  and  cure  of  the  insane,  still  censured  it  as  at  bottom  materialistic  and 
temporal.  '  It  leaves  sin  and  grace,  conscience  and  guilt,  quite  out  of  sight,  and  does  not  recognize 
that  forgiveness  of  sins  brings  life  and  spiritual  health.  Speaking  broadly,  the  less  the  bodily  physi- 
cian uses  his  vtateria  mcdica  in  mental  maladies,  the  better.  .Such  things,  for  the  most  part,  only 
damage  body  and  soul.  The  bodily  physician  may  Ije  helpful  in  the  care  of  tl;e  insane,  but  the  prime 
thing  is  the  care  of  the  sick  soul ;  and  this  should  not  be  intrusted  to  the  physician  in  the  main.' 
There  is  an  element  of  truth  in  the  statement,  but  it  would  lead  to  practical  absurdities." 


DR.   RUSH    ON    INSANITY  IX 

"Diseases  of  the  Mind,"  published  in  1812.  Few  have  made 
more  valuable  observations  in  America  on  the  manifestations 
of  insanity,  yet  his  notion  of  treatment  was  but  little  in  ad- 
vance of  the  Milanese  doctor's.  In  mania  Dr.  Rush  recom- 
mended the  strait-waistcoat  or  the  "  tranquillizing  chair,"  pri- 
vation of  food,  pouring  cold  water  into  the  coat-sleeves,  and, 
lastly,  the  shower-bath  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes.  This 
was  moral  treatment,  supplemental  to  bleeding.  He  adds, 
"  If  all  these  modes  oi  pwiishmetit  fail  of  their  intended  effects, 
it  will  be  proper  to  resort  to  the  fear  of  death.  By  the  proper 
application  of  these  mild  and  terrifying  modes  of  punishment, 
chains  will  seldom  and  the  whip  never  be  required  to  govern 
mad  people." 

This  was  the  height  of  the  medical  profession  in  1812,  after 
the  "  humane  revolution "  of  which  Rush  spoke  had  occurred 
under  Pinel  in  France  and  the  Quakers  of  York  in  England. 
He  exulted  in  the  fact  that  in  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  "the 
clanging  of  chains  and  the  noise  of  the  whip  are  no  longer 
heard  in  the  cells  of  the  insane.  They  now  taste  of  the  bless- 
ings of  air  and  light  and  motion  in  pleasant  and  shaded  walks 
in  summer,  and  in  spacious  entries  warmed  by  stoves  in  win- 
ter." He  favored  separate  hospitals  for  hard  drinkers,  and  the 
alternation  of  hot  and  cold  baths  to  shock  the  insane  into 
sanity.  But  his  great  specific  was  blood-letting,  which  he  car- 
ried to  high  figures  of  weight  and  frequency  of  withdrawing 
what  he  regarded  as  a  noxious  fluid.  His  example,  and  the 
virility  and  vivacity  of  his  truly  benevolent  mind,  made  his 
doctrine  pernicious  for  half  a  century.  Dr.  Tuke  called  him 
"the  American  Fothergill,"  resembling  that  English  Quaker, 
he  thought,  "in  the  independence  of  his  practice,  in  acuteness 
of  observation,  in  enthusiastic  love  of  the  art  of  healing,  and  in 
popularity  as  a  physician  in  a  great  city." 

To  Dr.  Rush,  who  died  in  181 3,  succeeded  physicians  of  less 
mark,  but  who  improved  the  treatment  of  insanity  in  some  par- 
ticulars,—  Dr.  Wyman  of  the  McLean  Asylum  near  Boston  in 
18 1 8,  Dr.  Todd  of  the  Hartford  Retreat  in  1824,  and  Dr.  S.  B. 
Woodward,  a  trustee  of  the  Hartford  Retreat,  but  in  1833 
superintendent   of   the    State    Hospital   at   Worcester,    estab- 


X  AMERICAN    ALIENISTS 

lished  by  Horace  Mann  and  others,  a  year  or  two  earlier. 
It  was  from  Dr.  Woodward  that  Dr.  Earle  drew  his  first  in- 
spiration as  professional  alienist,  and  he  continued  to  regard 
him  as  greatly  instrumental  in  the  instruction  of  physicians 
and  the  guidance  of  the  public  respecting  insanity  and  its 
treatment.  He  retired  before  my  time,  and  I  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  compare  him  with  later  alienists.  The  same  is  true  of 
Dr.  Brigham,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Todd  at  Hartford,  and  was 
the  first  superintendent  of  the  New  York  State  Asylum  at 
Utica.  But  I  believe  the  superiority  of  both  was  less  due  to 
special  attainments  than  to  a  native  vigor  of  mind,  a  power  of 
will,  and  an  impressive  personality.  They  looked  forward,  and 
not  backward.  They  bettered  the  practices  which  they  found 
in  use,  and  they  undertook  popular  instruction  ;  but  they  made 
few  discoveries,  and  left  little  written  evidence  of  their  great 
usefulness.  Dr.  Brigham,  indeed,  left  more  of  that  than  Dr. 
Woodward  ;  for  he  founded  the  Journal  of  Insanity,  and  wrote 
much  for  it. 

The  younger  contemporaries  and  successors  of  these  pioneers 
were  mostly  known  to  me  personally,  with  the  exception  of 
Dr.  Bell,  whom  I  believe  to  have  been  gifted  with  the  New 
Hampshire  traits  of  courage,  energy,  and  good  will  to  mankind, 
along  with  a  little  more  culture  than  often  fell  to  his  rural 
contemporaries.  I  began  my  inspection  of  asylums  in  1863 
with  the  peculiar  establishment  of  Dr.  Rockwell,  soon  after 
visited  Dr.  Ray  in  Providence  and  Dr.  Butler  at  Hartford, 
knew  rather  intimately  Dr.  Gray  of  Utica,  often  saw  Dr.  Kirk- 
bride  and  Dr.  Chapin,  was  intimate  with  Dr.  Jarvis,  Dr.  Choate, 
Dr.  Tyler,  Dr.  Clement  Walker,  Dr.  Chandler,  and  Dr.  Ban- 
croft, to  mention  no  others.  Few  of  these  men  had  what 
would  now  be  thought  a  sufficient  medical  and  philosophical 
training  for  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  perplexing  branches 
of  the  medical  and  psychological  art.  The  German  psychi- 
atrists, as  Dr.  Earle  discovered  in  1849,  had  far  exceeded  them 
in  preliminary  studies  and  systematic  thought.  But  most  of 
them  were  sensible,  practical  men,  who  had  learned  much  as 
assistant  physicians  or  superintendents  of  asylums  and  hospi- 
tals.    Several  of  them  were  good  administrative  heads  of  what 


AMERICAN    ALIENISTS  XI 

were,  in  one  aspect,  great  hotels.  A  few  were  good  organizers, 
and  still  fewer  were  good  writers.  Dr.  Ray  was  exceptional 
in  this  last  point.     His  mind  was  clear,  and  his  style  enviable. 

None  of  these  alienists,  however,  had  comprehended  the 
statistical,  economic,  or  even  the  sanatory  relations  of  the 
public  care  of  the  insane.  It  was  still  a  new  matter.  Experi- 
ence was  wanting.  Enumeration,  even  practical  definition  of 
the  insane,  was  lacking;  and,  while  their  number  was  much 
underrated,  the  likelihood  of  their  recovery  was  extremely 
overestimated.  The  asylums  were  few  and  small,  received  but 
a  portion  of  the  insane,  and  had  no  means  of  determining  the 
exact  physical  condition  of  the  patients  they  treated.  The 
microscope  had  hardly  begun  to  do  its  work  in  revolutionizing 
medicine.  The  localization  of  function  in  the  brain  was  in  its 
rudiments,  and  was  obscured  by  the  charlatanry  of  phrenology. 
The  classification  of  insanity  by  its  external  manifestations  was 
very  little  advanced,  and  had  to  be  the  study  of  each  alienist 
in  his  own  narrow  field  of  observation.  They  experimented 
with  medical  and  moral  treatment ;  and,  like  Dr.  Rush,  they 
formed  singular  notions  of  what  treatment  was  applicable  to 
the  mass  of  the  insane.  Still,  knowledge  advanced  under  their 
isolated  experiences.  They  communicated  facts  to  each  other 
and  to  the  public.  Unfortunately,  like  medical  men  in  all  ages, 
with  exception  of  a  few  physicians  of  genius,  they  took  guesses 
and  traditions  for  fact,  in  too  many  matters,  and  were  un- 
reasonably sanguine  of  good  results  from  specifics  or  hastily 
formed  systems  of  treatment.  Naturally  desirous  of  commend- 
ing their  beneficent  mission  to  the  great  public,  they  propagated 
the  hypothesis  that  all  the  insane  were  easily  curable,  if  only 
intrusted  early  to  their  care.  This  was  a  pardonable  illusion 
at  first.  It  passed  with  time  into  a  delusion  which  they  wished 
the  community  to  share  with  experts  who  began  to  have  their 
doubts  and  to  color  their  facts.  How  long  it  continued  to  be 
honestly  held  by  superintendents  who  made  careful  observa- 
tions would  be  hard  to  say ;  but  such  men  should  have  the 
benefit  of  every  doubt,  since  their  purpose  was  good. 

Meantime  visible  insanity  increased  amazingly;  and  the  im- 
pulse given  to  the  public  for  its  better  treatment,  by  the  mis- 


Xll  DEFECTS    OF    AMERICAN    ASYLUMS 

sionary  labors  of  Dr.  Woodward,  Miss  Dix,  and  others,  led  to 
the  building  of  many  new  asylums,  which  must  be  medically 
officered.  By  this  time,  though  the  real  nature  of  insanity  had 
been  but  little  studied,  young  physicians  perceived  that  the 
specialty  gave  an  opening  for  them  in  a  profession  where  it 
was  not  easy  to  get  a  bread-winning  position  for  general  prac- 
tice at  the  outset  of  their  career.  This  led  to  ambition  and 
intrigue  for  places  in  the  new  hospitals  and  asylums.  Personal 
favor  and  political  interest  came  in  to  promote  the  claims  of 
the  inexperienced  and  self-seeking,  and  a  class  of  physicians 
was  gradually  introduced  in  important  positions  who  had 
neither  the  mental  endowment  nor  the  high  moral  purpose  of 
the  pioneers  in  the  American  specialty.  The  pressure  for  ad- 
mission to  asylums  increased  with  the  growth  of  population 
and  wealth,  and  the  manifest  increase  of  insanity ;  and  the 
sound  principles  of  the  elder  alienists,  favoring  small  asylums 
and  greater  personal  care,  were  soon  set  aside,  at  first  on  the 
ground  of  economy  or  expediency,  and  then  because  great 
asylums  involved  larger  powers  and  wider  "  patronage  "  in  the 
hands  of  politicians,  medical  or  administrative.  Still,  the 
fiction  of  easy  curability  was  kept  up,  and  used  as  an  argument 
for  extracting  appropriations  from  legislative  bodies,  which 
were  then  expended  in  costly  structures,  from  which  the  insane 
derived  less  advantage  than  did  the  officials  who  inhabited  such 
palace-hospitals. 

Along  with  this  phase  of  the  specialty  went  a  kind  of  trade- 
unionism  in  the  heads  of  hospitals  and  asylums,  excluding 
from  their  guild  persons  of  high  attainments  and  earnest  pur- 
pose, who  might  have  raised  the  tone  of  their  meetings  and 
improved  the  quality  of  the  Journal  of  Insatiity,  which  was 
their  organ.  Such  was  the  state  of  things,  concisely  inter- 
preted, when  the  first  Boards  of  State  Charities  were  created, 
with  a  general  power  of  inspecting  hospitals  and  asylums,  from 
1863  to  1870.  Ifi  every  instance,  probably,  the  heads  of  those 
establishments  opposed  the  visitation  and  resented  the  criti- 
cism of  the  earlier  Boards  of  this  class.  Instead  of  welcom- 
ing a  new  ally  (which  these  boards  soon  became,  in  the 
advancement  of  the  true  knowledge  of  insanity  and  an   im- 


DR.   EARLE  S    ADVANTAGES  XIU 

provement  of  its  treatment),  this  medical  trade-union  of  alien- 
ists received  them  as  meddlesome  critics,  and  at  first  thought 
to  put  them  down.  But  from  that  day  to  this  the  question  of 
insanity  has  gradually  acquired  a  fuller  and  wiser  discussion  in 
America,  though  the  treatment  of  patients  still  leaves  much 
to  be  desired.  A  superficial  and  often  pompous  display  of 
knowledge  has  given  way  to  an  earnest  search  for  truth  ;  and 
the  difficulties  of  the  situation  (greatly  increased  as  they  are 
by  the  trebling  of  our  population,  the  muddy  tides  of  immigra- 
tion, and  a  fuller  discovery  of  the  statistical  facts)  are  now  faced 
with  a  better  scientific  and  practical  preparation  than  was 
possible  a  generation  ago. 

It  was  the  peculiar  merit  of  Dr.  Earle  —  in  some  respects 
a  good  fortune  rather  than  a  merit  —  that  he  began  his  special 
career  with  a  far  more  thorough  outfit  of  experience  than  most 
of  his  contemporaries,  and  never  neglected  the  means  of  keep- 
ing himself  in  line  with  the  thought  and  experience  of  coun- 
tries that  preceded  ours  in  the  improved  care  of  their  insane. 
He  was  what  Lloyd  called  Sir  Anthony  Brown,  "the  best  com- 
pound in  the  world, —  a  learned,  an  honest,  and  a  travelled  man  ; 
a  good  nature,  a  large  soul,  and  a  settled  mind."  When 
few  Americans  had  the  opportunity,  and  perhaps  none  the  in- 
clination, to  examine  the  care  of  the  insane  in  Europe,  he  ex- 
plored  it,  and  that  twice, —  in  his  first  residence  abroad  and 
again  in  his  tour  of  discovery  among  the  German  asylums. 
This  placed  him  above  our  American  weakness  of  boasting  our- 
selves the  foremost  in  all  things,  as  we  are,  no  doubt,  in  some 
things.  It  broadened  his  knowledge,  and  still  more  his  recep- 
tivity, so  that  he  no  longer  took  for  granted  the  confident 
statements  of  the  narrow-minded,  while  he  left  a  margin  for 
facts  and  theories  that  were  new  to  him.  His  honesty  of  mind 
and  the  habit  of  his  religious  sect,  long  accustomed  to  look  on 
the  fashion  of  this  world  not  only  as  transient,  but  as  wrong, 
kept  him  from  swimming  smoothly  with  the  current,  as  so 
many  of  his  professional  brethren  did.  His  arithmetical  turn 
made  him  distrust  statistics  which  would  not  "prove  "  the  result 
they  were  added  up  to  show ;  and  his  innate  frugality  caused 
him  to  look  at  the  wasting  of  public  money  on  palatial  poor- 


XIV  FAMILY   CARE    OF   THE    INSANE 

houses  as  worse  than  a  blunder.  All  this,  which  kept  him 
back  from  advancement  in  the  art  he  so  well  understood,  was 
his  best  equipment  for  the  final  success  that  he  achieved.  His 
name  will  stand  higher  as  time  passes,  because  his  work  was 
done,  not  for  present  fame  and  emolument,  but  for  the  future 
good  of  a  large  and  unhappily  increasing  class  of  mankind.  A 
part  of  it  also,  his  refutation  of  the  fallacy  of  easy  curability, 
will  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  best  contributions  thus  far 
made  to  the  science  of  insanity  by  the  hundreds  of  American 
alienists  who  have  dealt  with  the  subject. 

To  the  new  physiological  investigation  of  insanity  as  a 
corporeal  disease,  which  promises  better  results  than  it  has  yet 
furnished,  Dr.  Earle  was  perhaps  a  little  unjust.  He  had  seen 
so  many  loud  proclamations  on  this  subject  with  so  little  real 
accomplishment,  that  his  practical  good  sense,  joining  with  the 
conservatism  of  added  years,  made  him  less  hopeful  than  he 
would  have  been  before  i860.  But  it  will  probably  always  re- 
main true  that  his  moral  methods  in  dealing  with  insanity  are 
for  the  greatest  good  of  all. 

The  accumulation  of  thousands  of  the  chronic  insane  in  huge 
asylums  (so  foreign  to  all  the  principles  of  Dr.  Earle  and  his 
colleagues  of  thirty  years  ago)  led  him  to  modify  his  opinions 
in  some  respects.  In  his  address  at  the  Chicago  Conference 
of  Charities  in  1879,  ^^  admitted  that  chronic  asylums  are  a 
necessity,  but  pleaded  for  their  better  organization  so  as  "  to 
preserve  the  advantages  of  the  small  institution  with  the 
alleged  economy  of  support  in  the  large  one."  To  do  this,  he 
would  group  around  the  existing  hospitals  buildings  of  cheaper 
construction  ;  and  he  would  exclude  from  asylums  the  insane 
who  need  no  such  restraint.  "  Many  patients,"  he  said,  "are 
now  committed,  from  whom  society  has  nothing  to  fear,  and 
whose  best  interests  are  thus  promoted  because  they  have  no 
suitable  home."  Hence  a  movement  had  arisen  (in  Massachu- 
setts chiefly  promoted  at  that  time  by  Miss  Dix's  early  friend. 
Dr.  S.  G.  Howe)  for  placing  the  insane  in  family  homes,  as  was 
then  done  in  Belgium  and  Scotland  only.  While  anticipating 
little  reduction  in  the  over-population  of  asylums  from  this 
movement.  Dr.   Earle  with  his  native  candor  said:  "We  per- 


FAMILY    CARE    OF   THE    INSANE  XV 

ceive  no  serious  objection  to  a  trial  of  the  experiment.  Suc- 
cess sometimes  awaits  the  efforts  of  that  enthusiasm  which  is 
inspired  by  faith,  even  when  the  doubters  least  expect  it." 
As  time  elapsed  and  the  Family  Care  system  in  Europe  showed 
increasingly  good  results,  Dr.  Earle's  doubts  gave  way ;  and  he 
joined  in  recommending  that  the  hospitals,  as  well  as  the 
central  State  authority,  should  place  the  insane  in  Massachu- 
setts families.  He  went  beyond  existing  opinion  in  1890  (see 
page  278)  in  suggesting  this  family  care  for  convalescing 
patients, —  a  measure  he  had  found  working  well  on  a  small 
scale  in  the  Duchy  of  Nassau  in  1849. 

Thus  from  1835,  when  he  may  be  said  to  have  first  seriously 
considered  the  American  problems  of  insanity,  until  1890, — 
more  than  half  a  century  —  Dr.  Earle  was  foremost  in  favoring 
improvements  in  its  treatment ;  and,  where  he  doubted,  he  gave 
the  future  the  benefit  of  the  doubt.  I  know  of  no  other  New 
England  reformers  of  whom  this  can  be  said  except  Dr. 
Howe.*  These  three  persons,  Dr.  Earle  earliest  and  latest, 
Dr.  Howe  with  the  quickest  insight,  and  Miss  Dix  with  the 
most  rapid  success,  appear  to  me  to  have  done  most  to  ad- 
vance the  cause  in  America. 

As  Dr.  Earle's  monumental  work  on  "  The  Curability  of  In- 
sanity "  is  still  in  print,  and  may  be  had  of  the  publishers  of 
this  Memoir,  there  seemed  to  be  no  occasion  to  quote  largely 
from  it.  For  a  similar  reason  the  "  Earle  Genealogy,"  being 
readily  accessible,  little  has  been  said  of  the  members  of  Dr. 
Earle's  family,  except  incidentally,  in  connection  with  his 
letters  and  the  events  of  his  long  life.  From  the  interesting 
communication  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  May,  a  companion  of  Garri- 
son, a  college  classmate  of  Dr.  Holmes,  and  for  many  years  a 
townsman  of  the  Leicester  Earles,  some  additional  information 
can  be  had  in  the  Appendix.  It  has  been  thought  best  to  re- 
print there  some  of  Dr.  Earle's  publications  of  a  time  long 
past,  and  a  few  of  his  later  papers.  So  copious  was  the  corre- 
spondence left  by  him  in  the  hands  of  his  executors  that  only 
a  small  part  of  it  could  be  used  in  this  volume.     Our  effort  has 

*  Samuel  Gridley  Howe,  bom  Nov.  lo,  1801,  died  Jan.  9,  1876,  was  the  famous  philanthropist 
and  revolutionist  of  Boston,  friend  of  the  blind,  the  poor,  and  all  who  needed  help. 


XVI  PORTRAITS,  ERRATA,   ETC. 

been  to  reproduce  in  some  degree  the  earlier  circumstances  of 
his  life,  and  the  scenes  in  which  he  moved  fifty  or  sixty  years 
ago,  in  order  to  give  that  interest  to  these  pages  which  the 
publication  of  a  correspondence  mainly  professional  or  of 
family  significance  could  not  so  well  impart. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  his  relations  with  his  family, 
and  the  mutual  interchange  of  good  offices  between  its  mem- 
bers, were  such  as  might  be  expected  from  the  cordial  and 
practical  character  of  the  Earles  of  Leicester,  the  Chases  of 
Worcester,  and  the  Buffums  of  Rhode  Island.  The  pecuniary 
independence  which  the  elder  Pliny  Earle  secured,  until  re- 
verses overtook  him,  was  achieved  by  the  diligence  and  good 
sense  of  his  son  and  namesake ;  and  his  possessions  were  used 
by  Dr.  Earle  to  encourage  excellence  in  others,  and  to  promote 
pubHc  interests.  Portions  of  his  last  Will,  at  the  end  of  the 
Appendix,  will  prove  his  liberality  to  the  public ;  his  care  for 
those  who  needed  aid  was  no  less  liberal. 

The  portraits  in  this  volume  are  from  a  daguerreotype  taken 
about  1846  and  from  a  photograph  of  about  forty  years  later. 
The  steel  engraving  prepared  for  the  "  Earle  Genealogy  "  and 
used  in  a  portion  of  this  edition  is  perhaps  of  1875  or  there- 
about. Without  being  so  speaking  a  likeness  as  the  later 
photograph,  it  has  some  merits  not  seen  in  the  other  two. 
The  early  daguerreotype  has  suffered  in  expression  from  fading. 

It  may  be  added  that  an  error  of  one  month  crept  into  the 
pages  that  mention  Dr.  Earle's  first  voyage  to  Europe,  which 
began  April  25,  1837,  and  not  March  25,  as  printed.  In  Dr. 
Earle's  brief  reminiscences,  page  383,  this  is  correctly  stated. 

F.  B.  s. 
Concord,  Sept.  12,  1898. 


MEMOIR   OF   PLINY   EARLE,  M.D. 


CHAPTER   I. 

BIRTH,    ANCESTRY,    AND    CHILDHOOD. 

Pliny  Earle,  second  of  that  name,  was  the  son  of  Pliny 
Earle  of  Leicester,  a  rural  town  near  Worcester,  in  Worcester 
County,  Mass.,  where  the  subject  of  this  biography  was  born, 
Dec.  31,  1809,  at  the  residence  of  his  father,  then  engaged 
in  manufactures  and  agriculture.  His  mother  was  Patience 
Buffum,  of  Smithfield,  R.I.  ;  and  both  she  and  her  husband 
were  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  which  had  early  established 
itself  in  the  Plymouth  Colony  and  the  neighboring  colony  of 
Roger  Williams.  The  first  of  Dr.  Earle's  paternal  ancestors  in 
America  was  Ralph  Earle,  who  came  from  near  Exeter,  in 
England,  and  may  have  been  in  Rhode  Island  as  early  as  1634. 
His  name  appears  among  the  signers  of  a  political  compact 
made  at  Portsmouth,  R.I.,  April  30,  1639.  He  married  a  wife, 
Joan,*  no  doubt  in  England,  and  remained  in  Rhode  Island  until 
his  death  in  1678.  No  successful  effort  has  yet  been  made  to 
connect  this  Ralph  Earle  (Erie)  with  the  distinguished  English 
family  of  Erles  in  Somerset  and  Devon,  to  which  belonged  Sir 
Walter  Erie  of  Charborough,  of  the  generation  immediately 
preceding  Ralph  Earle.  He  was  a  member  of  Parliament  in 
the  first  years  of  Charles  I.'s  reign,  and  was  arbitrarily  impris- 
oned by  that  king  for  refusing,  with  others,  to  pay  a  forced  loan 
under  royal  authority  without  warrant  of  law.  A  dozen  knights, 
of  whom  Sir  Walter  was  one,  and  seventy-eight  other  English- 
men of  all  ranks,  were  thus  imprisoned.  They  were  all  re- 
leased in  February,  1628  ;  and  in  the  next  March  twenty-seven 

*  Her  name  was  perhaps  Savage. 


2  ENGLISH    AND    AMERICAN    EARLES 

of  them,  Sir  Walter  at  their  head,  were  returned  to  the  new 
Parliament.  Others  so  elected  were  John  Hampden,  Sir  Ed- 
ward Hampden,  Sir  Nicholas  Barnardiston,  and  Sir  Thomas 
Grantham, —  all  Puritans,  and  opposed  to  the  arbitrary  proceed- 
ings of  Charles  and  the  bishops.  It  is  every  way  probable  that 
the  Earles  of  Rhode  Island  were  distant  cousins  of  these  Eng- 
lish Erles, —  not  only  for  the  reasons  given  by  Dr.  Earle  in  his 
genealogical  volume,  "Ralph  Earle  and  his  Descendants" 
(Worcester,  1888),  but  also  because  these  New  England  Earles, 
like  the  English  knight,  were  stanch  defenders  of  liberty  and 
free  speech,  which  Rhode  Island  was  colonized  to  maintain. 
Ten  years  later  (1638),  and  about  the  time  Ralph's  name  ap- 
pears in  Rhode  Island,  Hampden,  Cromwell,  and  other  Puritan 
leaders,  were  entertaining  a  purpose  of  emigrating  to  New 
England ;  and  Ralph  Earle  and  his  wife,  like  some  of  the 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  colonists,  may  have  been  sent 
out  in  advance. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  their  son  Ralph,  about  1660,  removed  to 
Dartmouth,  in  the  Plymouth  Colony,  but  near  Rhode  Island, 
and  acquired  a  large  estate  in  what  is  now  New  Bedford  and 
the  Elizabeth  Islands.  William,  another  son,  also  lived  in 
Dartmouth,  where  his  son  Ralph  was  born;  but  about  1717 
this  third  Ralph  removed  to  Leicester,  where  he  also  acquired 
much  land,  and  where  he  declared  himself  a  Quaker.  His  son 
Robert,  born  in  1706,  lived,  vigorous  and  active,  in  Leicester 
to  the  age  of  ninety.  The  first  Pliny  Earle  was  his  great- 
grandson.  From  farming  Pliny  turned  to  trade  and  manu- 
factures, and  established  a  mill  in  Leicester,  where  he  made 
cards  for  the  early  cotton-mills  from  a  model  of  his  own,  for 
which  he  got  a  patent  early  in  this  century.  This  gave  him  a 
competence  which  enabled  him  to  educate  his  nine  children 
well.  Our  Pliny  was  the  youngest  but  one  of  these,  and  was 
almost  sixteen  years  younger  than  his  eldest  brother,  John. 

Leicester,  when  Ralph  Earle  followed  his  Indian  guide, 
Moses,  from  Grafton  to  its  breezy  hill-tops,  included  the  present 
towns  of  Leicester  and  Paxton,  and  adjoined  Rutland.  Within 
its  limits  was  the  Indian  hill,  Asnebumskit,  fourteen  hundred 
feet  high  ;  and  a  portion  of  Ralph  Earle's  five  hundred  and  fifty 


1809-1837  3 

acres  reached  the  west  side  of  that  hill.  His  homestead  and 
main  farm  lay  on  what  is  now  called  Earle  Ridge,  and  on  both 
sides  of  Mulberry  Street,  extending  towards  Strawberry  Hill, 
where  the  churches  and  academy  are,  far  enough  to  include  the 
quiet,  wooded  slope  where  the  Quaker  meeting-house  stood  for 
more  than  one  hundred  years,  and  where  the  Friends'  burying- 
ground  is  ;  the  meeting-place  of  the  society  having  been  trans- 
ferred to  Worcester  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. There  were  no  Quakers  in  that  region  until  Ralph  Earle 
arrived,  nor  did  he  declare  himself  one  until  1732;  but  he  was 
probably  the  son  of  Quaker  parents,  and  no  doubt  shared  their 
opinions,  since  he  would  not  otherwise  have  been  sufificiently 
interested  in  William  Penn  to  visit  him  in  Philadelphia  before 
1701.  The  immediate  occasion  of  professing  himself  a  Quaker 
in  Leicester  was  to  avoid  the  parish  tax,  then  levied  on  all  who 
were  not  obviously  exempt.  Quakers  had  become  practically 
exempt  by  the  decision  of  the  English  Privy  Council  in  1724, 
upon  the  petition  of  Joseph  Anthony,  John  Sisson  (of  Tiverton), 
and  John  Akin  and  Philip  Tabor  (of  Dartmouth),  who  were 
Quakers,  and  had  been  imprisoned  a  year  for  failing  to  lay  and 
collect  the  ministerial  tax  in  their  two  townships.  This  de- 
cision set  them  free,  and  in  substance  said  that  Quakers  need 
not  pay  such  taxes.  Ralph  Earle,  formerly  of  Dartmouth,  his 
sons  Robert  and  William,  and  four  other  men, —  among  them 
Nathaniel  Potter, —  eight  years  after  (1732)  asked  by  petition 
to  be  released  from  paying  "  any  part  of  the  tax  for  the  seport 
of  the  minister  or  ministers  established  by  the  laws  of  this 
province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,"  alleging  that  they  were 
Quakers,  conscientiously  scrupulous  about  such  payment,  and 
claiming  "the  Privileges  granted"  to  the  people  of  that  name. 
Seven  years  later  Benjamin  Earle,  the  youngest  of  Ralph's 
eleven  children,  and  to  whom  he  had  given  that  part  of  the 
farm  where  the  graves  now  are,  joined  with  Nathaniel  Potter 
in  conveying  a  lot  for  the  Quaker  meeting-house  in  trust  to 
Samuel  Thayer,  of  Mendon,  who  before  the  year  ended  recon- 
veyed  it  to  Earle,  Potter,  Thomas  Smith,  and  John  Wells,  on 
condition  that  it  should  be  held  in  common,  and  should  go  by 
shares  to  their  heirs  and   assigns  forever.     A  small  meeting- 


4  LEICESTER    AXD    THE    AMERICAN    EARLES 

house  was  built  there  in  1741,  a  larger  one  fifty  years  later; 
and  near  them  were  buried  Ralph  Earle  and  his  descendants 
and  kindred. 

The  Earle  estates  ran  along  where  the  present  Earle  Street, 
leading  towards  Leicester  Village,  crosses  Mulberry  Street; 
and  there  the  great-grandfather  (Robert)  of  Dr.  Earle  had  his 
house.  A  few  rods  further  south,  on  Mulberry  Street,  Rob- 
ert, Jr.  (Dr.  Earle's  grandfather),  built  a  small  house  in  1771, 
afterwards  owned  by  Dr.  Earle  himself,  and  now  called  "Earle 
Ridge."  In  1792  Pliny  Earle,  Sr.,  removed  his  grandfather's 
house  to  the  east  side  of  Mulberry  Street,  and  made  it  a  factory 
for  his  card  manufacture,  building  the  next  year  the  larger 
house,  still  standing,  on  the  west  side.  Here  his  nine  children 
were  born,  and  here  both  he  and  his  wife  died.  The  Quaker 
Meeting  between  there  and  the  village,  which  had  counted  but 
eight  male  members  in  1742,  grew  to  have  more  than  one  hun- 
dred, male  and  female ;  and  in  the  school  district,  including  the 
Earle,  Potter,  and  Southwick  Quaker  farms,  there  were  in  18 12 
twenty-one  grandchildren  of  Robert  Earle,  Jr.,  out  of  forty 
pupils.  At  present  no  child  named  Earle  is  a  pupil  there,  and 
the  broad  acres  of  the  Earles  mostly  pass  under  other  names. 

The  country  itself  retains  its  picturesque  features,  except 
that  the  forests  are  gone,  and  are  replaced  by  fruit-trees  and 
well-tilled  fields.  Noble  views  are  seen  from  the  high  hills, 
and  both  Earle  Ridge  and  the  village  hill  are  nearly  twelve  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  sea.  The  roads  are  steep  or  winding, — 
sometimes  both, —  and  in  summer  pleasant.  Of  his  father  Dr. 
Earle  thus  wrote  in  his  later  years  :  — 

My  ancestors  were  mostly  either  yeomen  or  artisans,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  one  or  two,  took  no  part  that  was  prominent  in  public  af- 
fairs. My  father,  from  whom  I  took  my  Christian  name,  was  a  man 
of  good  intellectual  powers,  with  a  love  for  the  science  of  mechanics, 
and  much  inventive  faculty.  He  received  little  literary  education  ; 
but  his  ciphering-book  (that  once  fashionable  record  of  mathemati- 
cal work),  still  in  existence,  is  written  in  a  fair,  distinct  hand,  and 
would  not  be  discreditable  to  a  good  pupil  in  a  country  school  at  the 
present  day.     He  had  a  special  turn  for  mathematics,  without  the 


1809-1837  5 

opportunity  of  pursuing  its  higher  branches  ;  and  he  acquired,  though 
not  in  the  schools,  such  a  knowledge  of  chemistry  as  the  general 
student  rarely  obtained  in  his  active  life. 

With  his  habitual  understatement,  Dr.  Earle  hardly  ren- 
dered justice  to  the  prominence  of  his  father  and  uncles  in  the 
early  period  of  cotton  and  woollen  manufacture  by  machinery 
in  New  England,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century.  Judge  Emory 
Washburn,  the  historian  of  Leicester,  his  native  town,  gives 
this  account  of  the  small  beginnings  of  what  became  a  large  in- 
dustry, in  the  hands  of  Pliny  Earle,  his  brothers,  children,  and 
successors : — 

The  manufacture  of  cotton  and  wool  hand-cards  was  commenced 
in  Leicester  about  1785,  by  Mr.  Edmund  Snow;  and  among  those 
most  early  engaged  was  Mr.  Pliny  Earle,  who  possessed  much  of  the 
mechanical  ingenuity  (in  addition  to  a  great  fund  of  general  knowl- 
edge) which  has  characterized  those  of  that  name  in  the  town.  About 
the  year  1790  Mr.  Samuel  Slater,  the  venerable  originator  of  cotton- 
factories  in  the  United  States,  having  in  vain  endeavored  to  procure 
suitable  cards  for  his  machinery  in  the  principal  cities  of  the  Union, 
applied  to  Mr.  Earle.  Machine-cards  had  till  then  been  made  in  the 
manner  C3.\led/>/ain.  A  part  of  the  cards  used  on  a  machine  is  called 
"filleting,"  and  this  part  it  was  desirable  to  have  what  is  termed 
"twilled."  For  this  purpose  Mr.  Earle  was  obliged  to  prick  the 
whole  filleting  with  two  needles  inserted  in  a  handle,  in  the  manner 
of  an  awl.  This  process  was  extremely  tedious ;  but  Mr.  Earle  at 
length  completed  it,  and  furnished  to  Mr.  Slater  the  cards  on  which 
the  first  cotton  was  wrought  that  was  spun  by  machinery  in  America. 
The  difficulty  with  which  he  accomplished  this  engagement  led  to  his 
invention  of  a  machine  with  which  to  prick  the  leather  for  cards  ;  and 
about  1797  he  accomplished  the  desired  object. 

Pliny  Earle  had  engaged  in  this  card-making  before  1786, 
when  he  was  only  twenty-four  years  old.  By  1789  he  had 
become  so  well  known  that  the  firm  of  Almy  and  Brown  of 
Providence  (kinsmen  and  successors  of  Moses  Brown,  a  founder 
of  Brown  University)  engaged  him  to  cover  the  cylinders  in 
their  mill  with  card-teeth  such  as  he  had  made  for  a  mill  in 
Worcester,  before  Mr.  Slater  had  applied  to  him  for  a  similar 


O  LEICESTER    AND    THE    AMERICAN    EARLES 

purpose.  The  patent  for  his  machine  was  not  issued  till  1803, 
but  it  had  been  in  use  long  before ;  and  its  principle  formed  the 
basis  of  all  such  machines  for  many  years. 

The  mother,  Patience  Earle,  was  no  less  gifted  and  energetic 
than  her  spouse.  Of  her  and  the  events  of  his  childhood,  Dr. 
Earle  wrote  in  an  unfinished  autobiography :  — 

My  mother,  who  was  but  five  years  old  at  the  opening  of  the 
Revolution  (1775)  had  even  fewer  facilities  for  education  than  my 
father ;  but,  having  a  strong  literary  taste,  she  became  very  much  of 
a  reader,  and  carried  the  habit  to  the  close  of  her  life.  From  my 
earliest  memory  of  her  till  her  last  illness  (November,  1849,  when 
she  was  seventy-nine),  she  habitually  took  an  after-dinner  nap  in 
bed,  taking  with  her  either  a  book  or  a  newspaper,  and  reading 
until  she  fell  asleep.  She  did  the  same  on  retiring  at  night.  When 
in  bed,  she  always  lay  on  her  left  side,  and  held  the  book  or  newspa- 
per in  her  extended  right  hand.  The  protracted  and  semi-continual 
pressure  of  her  body  upon  the  left  shoulder  brought  into  opera- 
tion a  well-known  physiological  law.  At  the  time  of  her  decease  the 
shoulder-blade  of  that  side  was  not  more  than  half  as  large  as  that  of 
the  right  side,  which  had  been  free  from  pressure. 

My  parents  had  nine  children,  and  the  first  death  in  the  family 
was  that  of  my  father,  who  died  (1832)  when  his  youngest  child  was 
nineteen  years  of  age.  Of  the  nine,  seven  had  learned  the  letters  of 
the  English  alphabet  before  they  were  respectively  twenty  months 
old.  In  the  two  exceptions,  the  health  of  the  children  was  so  unstable 
that  it  was  considered  unwise  to  attempt  to  teach  them.  This  release 
of  the  school-teachers  from  the  drudgery  of  teaching  the  alphabet 
was  the  work  of  the  mother,  to  whom  the  children  were  indebted  for 
that  instruction. 

It  has  been  said  that  no  person  can  do  three  things  at  one  and 
the  same  time ;  but,  if  my  mother  did  not  accomplish  that  feat,  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  she  came  very  near  it.  I  have  seen  her, 
many  a  time,  during  the  first  three  years  of  my  younger  brother's 
life,  tending  the  baby,  knitting,  and  teaching  the  letters  to  the  baby. 
My  father  was  a  subscriber  to  the  old  New  York  Herald,  the  lead- 
ing newspaper  of  the  metropolis  at  that  time.  Its  heading  was  in 
plain  Roman  capitals,  an  inch  or  more  in  height.  These  letters  were 
used  for  the  instruction  of  her  babies,  in  so  much  of  the  alphabet  as 


1809-1S37  7 

they  would  serve.  The  large  letters  of  the  title-page  of  the  Bible 
and  other  books  enabled  her  to  complete  the  alphabet,  ^^'ith  the 
same  arrangements  of  babies  and  knitting-work,  and  generally  with 
most  of  the  family  present,  she  read  aloud  from  the  Holy  Scripture, 
particularly  in  the  long  winter  evenings.  A  neighbor,  a  prominent 
minister  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  said  of  her,  "  She  was  the  most 
capable  woman,  taking  her  in  every  respect,  that  I  ever  knew :  and  I 
have  known  a  great  many." 

The  district  school  was  but  about  fort}-  rods  from  my  father's 
homestead,  and  I  began  to  attend  it  when  very  young.  I  learned 
easily,  and  at  the  age  of  five  years  was  reading  in  the  highest  class, 
our  text-book  being  Scott's  "  Lessons,"  the  English  publication 
which  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other  supplied  the  schools  of 
New  England  prior  to  the  publication  of  any  American  work  of  the 
kind. 

I  might  relate  an  anecdote  as  illustrative  of  an  early  facility  in 
the  application  of  acquired  knowledge.  I  was  very  young,  and  this 
is  the  earliest  of  my  memories  ;  but  the  circumstances  are  still  as 
vividly  in  my  mind's  eye  as  if  they  had  occurred  much  later.  One 
morning,  after  breakfast,  Daniel  Jenkins,  the  man  who  then  had 
charge  of  the  farm,  took  me  up,  and  held  me  with  his  arms  around 
my  legs  and  face  to  face  with  himself,  our  heads  being  at  very 
nearly  the  same  height.  I  pushed  his  head  from  me,  making  him 
lean  backwards,  then  leaned  backwards  to  some  distance,  and  said 
to  him,  ''  Y  !  "  I  remember  that  I  was  greatly  pleased  to  find  I  had 
discovered,  in  the  group  formed  by  him  and  myself,  a  resemblance 
to  that  letter  of  the  alphabet.  The  literar}-  taste  of  my  mother  was 
inherited  to  a  very  considerable  extent  by  her  children ;  and,  con- 
sidering the  time  at  which  they  lived,  they  became  great  readers. 
My  grandmother  Earle,  one  of  our  nearest  neighbors,  one  day 
remarked  to  my  mother  that  with  her  children  she  had  made  it  a 
matter  of  principle  not  to  call  away  one  of  them  from  reading  to  set 
them  at  work.  My  mother's  reply  was,  "  If  I  should  never  call 
upon  one  of  my  children  while  reading  to  do  work,  I  should  never 
get  any  work  done  by  them." 

My  father  was  a  farmer  and  a  manufacturer  of  (cotton)  cards, 
the  latter  being  what  he  chiefly  relied  upon  for  the  support  of  his 
family.  He  was  lenient  with  his  children,  and  did  not  require  us 
to  work  regularlv,  even  when  we  were    not    at    school.     He    often 


8  LEICESTER    AND    THE    AMERICAN    EARLES 

kept  two  farm  hands  and  always  one.  Either  by  requisition  or  for 
my  own  amusement,  I  often  assisted  the  farmers  at  their  work.  I 
began  by  following  the  mowers  to  spread  their  swath  (a  work  which 
greatly  delighted  me),  and  was  soon  promoted  to  riding  the  horse 
for  ploughing,  which  I  utterly  detested,  and  always  evaded,  if  possi- 
ble. Subsequently  I  made  myself  familiar  with  the  use  of  every 
farm  tool  used  at  that  time.  The  knowledge  thus  acquired  has  been 
of  no  inconsiderable  use  to  me  in  superintending  the  large  farm  at 
the  Northampton  Hospital.  My  father  had  for  those  days  a  great 
variety  of  fruit-trees,  in  which  he  took  a  great  interest ;  and  he  had 
no  little  knowledge  of  horticulture  and  fruit-raising.  I  learned 
from  him  the  methods  of  grafting  and  budding  fruit-trees  when  I 
was  about  eleven  years  old,  and  had  considerable  practice  upon 
young  trees  raised  in  our  garden.  One  or  two  of  his  experiments 
were  curious. 

Among  his  pear-trees  was  one  whose  .trunk  was  some  five  inches 
through,  which  had  begun  to  bear  fruit.  It  then  began  to  decay 
about  five  feet  from  the  ground,  and  so  continued  till  at  one  point 
it  reached  the  heart  of  the  tree.  My  father  then  sawed  the  trunk 
half  off  at  two  points,  above  and  below  the  decayed  portion,  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  inches  apart.  From  another  tree  he  cut  a  branch 
about  as  large  as  the  decaying  trunk,  and  carefully  fitted  a  piece 
of  this  branch  into  the  space  from  which  he  took  out  the  decay, 
taking  pains  to  match  the  bark  of  the  branch  to  the  bark  of  the  tree, 
so  that  the  flowing  sap  would  pass  through  the  inserted  half-cylinder. 
He  wrapped  it  at  the  mended  part ;  and  this  inserted  piece  grew, 
and  formed  one-half  of  the  trunk  of  the  pear-tree,  which,  however, 
continued  to  decay.  In  two  or  three  years  the  decaj^ed  part  ex- 
tended nearly  through  the  trunk,  but  the  inserted  piece  had  become 
so  strong  as  to  support  the  tree.  He  then  sawed  out  the  remaining 
and  decayed  half  of  the  original  trunk  for  a  space  corresponding 
to  a  new  piece  which  he  inserted.  Again  he  wrapped  it,  and  again 
the  inserted  piece  grew.  The  tree  flourished  for  many  years,  with 
no  part  of  its  original  trunk  where  the  decay  had  been ;  and  many 
a  good  pear,  both  of  the  St.  Michael's  and  the  Flemish  Beauty 
varieties,  have  I  eaten  from  it.  Again,  one  spring  father  received 
some  young  pear-trees  from  New  York.  They  were  all  planted  but 
one,  which  lay  in  the  garden  three  or  four  weeks,  not  "  heeled  in," 
but  exposed  to  all  sorts  of  weather.     I  supposed  it  to  be  hopelessly 


1809-1837  9 

dead ;  but  father  took  it,  and,  having  gathered  some  small  roots 
from  living  pear-trees,  inserted  their  upper  ends  under  the  bark  of 
the  new  tree's  roots.  He  then  planted  it,  and  it  grew  with  as  much 
vigor  as  if  its  planting  had  not  been  thus  delayed. 

For  the  business  of  manufacturing  cards  and  carding-machines, 
father  had  a  carpenter's  shop,  a  blacksmith's  shop,  and  a  foot-lathe. 
This  last  was  to  me  of  great  interest ;  and  I  learned  upon  it  the 
use  of  the  chisel  and  gouge,  while  turning  tops  and  fancy  articles. 
In  the  carpenter's  shop  I  became  familiar  with  all  its  tools,  and 
practised  with  them  to  some  extent  of  usefulness.  In  the  card 
factory  I  worked  also,  in  such  departments  as  were  within  my 
ability.  In  making  hand-cards,  I  punched  and  nailed  the  handles 
to  the  boards,  and  nailed  the  cards  upon  the  boards,  thus  getting 
the  dexterous  and  facile  use  of  a  small  hammer.  In  both  hand  and 
machine  cards,  the  teeth  were  cut  from  wire  by  "  cutting-machines," 
which  were  somewhat  complicated.  Even  as  early  as  my  seventh 
year  I  was  employed,  more  or  less,  in  operating  such  a  machine, 
and  soon  learned  to  understand  its  construction,  and  how  to  correct 
some  of  the  simplest  forms  of  its  disordered  working.  Whatever 
mechanical  faculty  nature  gave  me  was  here  called  into  activity,  and 
so  developed  that,  whenever  since  I  have  seen  a  new  machine  of  any 
sort,  my  first  impulse  has  been  to  investigate  all  its  movements. 
Thus,  when  in  1824  a  small  steam-engine  was  placed  in  the  card 
factory,  for  running  the  cutting-machine,  I  learned  its  use ;  and, 
when  fifteen  years  old,  in  the  whole  warm  season  of  1825,  I  had 
charge  of  both  the  steam-engine  and  the  machine,  and  practically 
learned  the  principles  of  steam  as  a  motive  power.  This  was  my 
chief  occupation  until  I  entered  the  Friends'  School  at  Providence 
in  the  early  autumn  of  1826. 

My  school  education  had  not  been  neglected  meantime,  for  I 
had  just  passed  my  tenth  year  (in  1820)  when  I  entered  the  Leices- 
ter Academy.  I  well  remember  the  cold,  blustering,  uncomforta- 
ble, and  discouraging  day  in  March.  My  mother  took  me  in  the 
chaise  then  generally  used, —  a  covered,  one-horse  carriage.  The 
preceptor  of  the  English  Department,  which  I  entered,  was  Thomas 
Fisk,  a  genial,  good-natured  man,  without  much  natural  taste  for 
his  employment,  and  not  specially  fond  of  severe  work,  but  who 
still  performed  his  prescribed  duties  without  censure.  But  the 
preceptor  of  the  Classical  Department  was  an  excellent  scholar, — 


lO  LEICESTER    AND    THE    EARLES 

John  Richardson, —  a  somewhat  severe  disciplinarian,  with  a  counte- 
nance really  more  stern  than  his  character,  and  silver-bowed  specta- 
cles, which,  being  near-sighted,  he  constantly  wore,  and  which  had 
the  magical  power  of  making  every  pupil  in  the  school-room  believe 
the  master  was  looking  right  at  him,  I  remained  in  the  Academy, 
excepting  a  term  now  and  then,  until  the  close  of  the  autumn  term 
of  1824,  and  in  that  term  was  under  Professor  Richardson.  In  the 
following  winter  term  (1825)  I  was  at  the  town  school,  in  my  native 
district,  and  made  some  progress  in  mathematics.  In  both  schools 
I  learned  easily,  and  my  lessons  were  always  thoroughly  committed ; 
but  the  knowledge  acquired  was  much  less  than  it  should  have  been, 
had  the  Academy  been  as  thoroughly  organized  and  efficiently  man- 
aged as  some  others  I  have  known. 

No  doubt  Dr.  Earle  was  here  thinking  of  that  excellent  insti- 
tution, still  existing,  the  New  England  "  Yearly-meeting  Board- 
ing-school," at  Providence,  R.I.,  in  which  he  completed  his 
academic  education,  and  afterwards  taught  for  some  years  with 
success,  leaving  on  the  minds  of  his  pupils,  of  both  sexes,  a 
vivid  impression  of  his  teaching  capacity,  and  most  agreeable 
recollections  of  his  personal  influence  and  character.  He  be- 
came an  assistant  teacher  there  in  1829,  was  promoted  in  1831, 
and  in  1835,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  became  the  principal,  for 
a  short  time,  of  this  important  seminary.  Late  in  1835  he  re- 
signed his  place,  and  entered  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  as 
a  medical  student,  at  Philadelphia,  in  October  of  that  year. 
He  had  been  studying  medicine  for  some  years  with  Dr.  Usher 
Parsons  of  Providence  (brother-in-law  of  Dr.  O.  W.  Holmes),  a 
distinguished  surgeon  and  author,  at  the  same  time  teaching 
his  classes  in  the  Friends'  School.  He  completed  his  medical 
course  in  1837,  and  soon  after  went  abroad.  But  all  through 
his  youth  his  education  was  more  practical  than  academic,  from 
the  lessons  learned  in  his  father's  shops  and  on  the  great 
Leicester  farm.  Of  these  matters  the  autobiography  goes  on 
to  say  :  — 

The  persons  who  did  the  work  of  card-making  for  my  father  were 
chiefly  the  women  and  children  of  farmers,  who  were  thus  enabled 
to  earn   a  considerable  sum  in  the  support  of  a  family.     People  in 


I809-I837  II 

Leicester  and  all  the  adjoining  towns  engaged  in  this  work ;  for  the 
holes  in  the  leather  which  held  the  card-teeth  were  pricked  by  a 
hand-machine  ("  pricking-machine  "),  that  could  be  used  in  a  farm- 
house. I  often  worked  at  this,  rather  as  a  pastime  than  a  labor. 
We  had  several  "  routes  "  in  which  a  horse  and  wagon  was  sent  out 
from  the  factory  for  a  circuit  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  miles, 
among  the  farmers,  to  carry  the  leathers  and  teeth  to  the  "  setters," 
and  collect  from  them  the  finished  cards.  Others,  living  nearer, 
came  themselves  to  the  factory  to  get  the  material  and  return  the 
cards  they  had  set.  For  some  years  I  drove  one  of  these  circuit 
teams,  and  thus  gained  no  little  experience  in  the  use  and  care 
of  horses.  My  father  also  kept  a  kind  of  country  store, —  not  for 
general  customers,  but  for  payment  in  kind  of  those  who  set  the 
cards.  There  were  not  customers  enough  to  justify  hiring  a  clerk ; 
and  so  different  members  of  the  Earle  family  acted  as  clerk,  in  due 
time.  I  was  first  promoted  to  this  post  when  about  twelve,  and  I 
well  remember  my  feeling  of  pride  at  such  exaltation.  My  first 
entry  in  day-book  of  a  charge  against  a  customer  I  considered  as- 
tonishing. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  discipline  and  these  experiences  were 
just  what  was  needed  to  make  the  boy  and  youth  acquainted 
with  the  homely  details  of  New  England  life  in  the  first  quarter 
of  the  century,  when  a  state  of  things  existed  which  has  long 
since  passed  away.  In  these  drives  and  colloquies  with  the 
industrious  Yankee  farmer,  his  wife  and  children,  young  Pliny 
Earle,  as  Channing  says  of  Thoreau  in  his  endless  walks  and 
talks  about  Concord,  "  came  to  see  the  inside  of  almost  every 
farmer's  house  and  head,"  —  a  sight  worth  seeing  and  a  class 
worth  knowing  and  spending  your  boyhood  among.  The  same 
Concord  poet  has  described  them  and  their  habitations  as  Dr. 
Earle  saw  them  in  the  upland  region  around  Worcester,  to 
which  he  ever  loved  to  return,  until  he  became  the  last  of  his 
family  there :  — 

I  love  these  homely  mansions,  and  to  me 
A  farmer's  house  seems  better  than  a  king's. 

The  palace  boasts  its  art ;  but  Liberty 

And  honest  pride  and  toil  are  splendid  things. 

They  carved  this  clumsy  lintel,  and  it  brings 


12  THE    AMERICAN    FARMERS 

The  man  upon  its  front.     Greece  hath  her  art; 
But  this  rude  homestead  shows  the  farmer's  heart. 

The  wind  may  blow  a  hurricane  ;  but  he 
Goes  fairly  onward  with  the  thing  in  hand. 

He  sails  undaunted  on  the  crashing  sea, 

Beneath  the  keenest  winter  frost  doth  stand, 

And  by  his  will  he  makes  his  way  command, 
Till  all  the  seasons  smile  dehght  to  feel 
The  grasp  of  his  hard  hand  encased  in  steel. 

Among  the  many  virtues  of  this  vanishing  class  was  their 
frugality,  which  Dr.  Earle  learned  and  commended.  He  says 
in  his  autobiography  :  — 

The  disposition  to  save  entered  pretty  largely  into  my  natural 
character  ;  and  this  tendency  was  fostered  by  the  circumstances  into 
which  the  family  was  thrown  by  the  loss  of  most  of  my  father's 
property,  upon  the  declaration  of  peace  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  in  1815.  His  business  firm  (Pliny  Earle  & 
Brothers),  which  consisted  of  the  three  eldest  brothers,  Pliny,  Jonah, 
and  Silas,  was  formed  in  1791  ;  and  their  business  soon  became  one 
of  the  most  extensive  of  its  kind  in  the  country.  In  1802  they 
added  to  it  the  building  of  machines  for  carding  both  cotton  and 
wool;  and  in  1804  they  placed  wool-carding  machines  upon  some 
stream  in  each  of  the  towns  to  which  their  work  extended,  even  one 
town  in  Rhode  Island,  for  the  convenience  of  the  farmers  who 
raised  wool,  but  before  had  it  carded  by  hand  in  their  houses.  Graf- 
ton, Rutland,  Warren,  and  Northbridge,  in  Worcester  County,  and 
Cumberland  in  Rhode  Island  were  these  towns  ;  and  the  firm  were  in 
part  owners  of  a  cotton-mill  in  Northbridge.  The  war  with  England, 
beginning  when  young  Pliny  was  two  and  a  half  years  old,  much 
increased  their  profits.  But  the  cost  of  raw  material  also  increased 
greatly;  and  the  close  of  the  war  in  January,  1815,  found  them  with 
a  very  large  stock  on  hand,  with  falling  prices  and  very  litde  demand 
for  cards.  Such  of  the  business  as  remained  was  retained  by  my 
father  until  his  death  in  1832,  his  principal  agent  and  manager  after 
18 1 9  being  my  brother  William,  seven  years  older  than  myself.  My 
eldest  brother,  Thomas,  who  had  been  with  his  father  in  business, 
removed  to  Philadelphia  in  1817,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one;  and  an 
incident  connected  with  him  stimulated  my  tendency  to  economy. 


1809-1837  13 

Upon  his  first  return  from  Philadelphia,  when  I  was  seven  years 
old,  he  brought  several  books  for  children,  which  he  gave  to  his 
younger  brothers  and  sisters, —  among  them  some  of  the  minor 
tales  of  Maria  Edgeworth,  one  of  them  entitled  "  Waste  not,  Want 
not;  or,  Two  Strings  to  your  Bow."  Its  hero  was  a  boy  who  one 
day  came  across  a  piece  of  small  cord,  picked  it  up,  and  put  it  in 
his  pocket.  Some  time  afterwards,  when  shooting  for  a  prize  in 
archery,  his  bowstring  broke.  Whereupon  he  calmly  took  the  pre- 
served cord  from  his  pocket,  strung  his  bow  with  it,  shot  his  arrow, 
and  won  the  prize.  I  was  greatly  pleased  with  this  story,  and  its 
moral  made  a  strong  impression.  Twenty  years  after,  on  my  first 
visit  to  Europe,  the  multitude  of  illustrations  (not  only  in  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  but  in  the  countries  of  the  Continent)  of  a 
degree  of  economy  wholly  unknown  even  in  New  England,  confirmed 
the  impression  made  by  the  hero  of  "Waste  not,  Want  not."  At 
that  time  also  I  derived  a  useful  lesson  in  another  direction.  I  met 
with  the  evidences  of  order  and  system  in  the  practical  pursuits  of 
life,  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  in  the  United  States.  We  were  still 
in  our  national  infancy,  our  Constitution  not  yet  fifty  years  old,  our 
territor}'  large,  its  population  sparse,  and  its  business,  both  in  the 
arts  and  commerce,  carried  on  under  the  necessities  of  the  moment 
rather  than  by  the  rules  of  long  experience. 

This  love  of  order,  system,  and  economy,  however,  was  quite  as 
much  inherited  and  inbred  by  the  connection  of  the  Earles  of 
Leicester  with  the  Quakers  as  by  any  books  or  observations  of 
early  or  later  years.  The  traits  of  Dr.  Earle  were  those  so  often 
noted  in  the  English  and  American  Quakers, —  patience,  perse- 
verance, submission  to  the  will  of  God  as  revealed  by  the  Inner 
Light,  even  more  than  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and, 
not  less,  a  sober  resolution  to  acquire  and  retain  the  means 
of  independent  living.  This  implied  industry,  fru.gality,  and 
orderly  management  of  all  secular  affairs, —  virtues  visible  in  the 
first  of  the  Quaker  Earles  of  Leicester,  Ralph,  the  great-grand- 
father of  Pliny  the  elder.  He  had  not  been  called  a  Quaker 
until  after  his  removal  from  Freetown  in  Bristol  County,  in 
1 71 7,  to  Leicester.  Indeed,  he  had  borne  in  his  youth  the  mili- 
tary title  of  ensign.  He  was  a  person  of  middle  age  and  much 
substance  when  he  became  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Leices- 


14  CHARACTER    OF    THE    AMERICAN    EARLES 

ter,  where  his  five  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  were  trans- 
mitted to  his  numerous  descendants,  and  in  part  to  his  faithful 
negro  slave,  Sharp,  whom  he  emancipated  before  his  own 
death,  and  presented  with  thirty  acres  on  the  south  slope  of 
Asnebumskit,  the  highest  hill  of  his  region.  Though  late  in 
joining  the  Society  of  Friends,  he  was  much  attached  to  them, 
and  made  a  visit  to  Pennsylvania  (tradition  says)  to  see  William 
Penn.  If  so,  it  must  have  been  about  1700,  when  Ralph  Earle 
was  forty  years  old.* 

Like  her  husband,  Patience  Earle,  though  descended 
through  the  Arnold  family  of  Lanthony  in  Wales  from  war- 
rior-chieftains of  that  land,  was  born  and  bred  a  Quaker.  But 
she  had  certain  tastes  not  always  cherished  in  that  sect,  and 
more  in  accord  with  the  bards  of  Wales.  She  wrote  verse 
with  facility,  as  did  her  son,  who  says  of  this :  — 

Her  natural  poetic  taste  was  far  above  mediocrity ;  and  she  read 
the  verse  of  standard  English  poets  with  close  attention,  Pope  being 
her  greatest  favorite,  and,  next  to  him,  Goldsmith.  I  once  heard  her 
say  of  the  "  Essay  on  Man  "  that,  if  any  person  would  repeat  any 
line  of  it  he  pleased,  she  would  repeat  the  other  line  of  the  couplet. 
Although  familiar  with  Dr.  Young,  he  was  evidently  not  so  satisfac- 
tory to  her  as  Pope  and  Goldsmith,  I  have  heard  her  say  that  the 
"  Night  Thoughts  "  would  read  about  as  well  by  beginning  at  the 
bottom  of  the  page  and  reading  upwards.  In  the  last  twenty  years 
of  her  life  she  wrote  many  poetical  pieces,  some  of  which  found 
their  way  into  the  newspapers.  An  unfinished  poem  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  lines,  imitative  of  Goldsmith's  "  Deserted  Village,"  was 
written  on  revisiting  her  native  village  in  Rhode  Island.  Her 
school-house,  of  the  Revolutionary  epoch,  is  thus  described  :  — 

In  rustic,  plain  simplicity  it  stood 

On  a  broad  lawn,  encircled  by  a  wood ; 

Within  its  walls  a  motley  group  was  seen. 

Of  different  sexes  and  of  varied  mien  ; 

Some,  hardy,  rough,  and  rugged  sons  of  earth, 

Who  never  gave  one  bright  idea  birth, 

•Penn  last  visited  l)is  American  colony  in  1699,  and  returned  to  England  in  1701,  where  he  died 
in  1718.  Ralph  Earle  may  have  been  a  "birthright  Friend,"  who  disconnected  himself  with  the 
society  and  afterwards  rejoined  it.  His  title  of  ensign  is  as  late  as  1715.  He  lived  to  be  ninety-six, 
dying  in  1757,  so  that  the  lives  of  himself  and  his  son  Robert  covered  one  hundred  and  thirty-six  years, 
from  1660  to  1796. 


1809-1837  IS 

And  seemed  by  nature  from  improvement  barred, 
With  minds  as  callous  as  their  frames  were  hard ; 
Some,  gentle  forms,  and  delicately  wrought. 
That  scarcely  seemed  susceptible  of  thought, 
On  trifling  objects  ever  prone  to  dote, — 
Their  only  knowledge  what  they  learned  by  rote  ; 
And  yet  another  class  did  there  appear, — 
Their  minds  capacious,  their  perceptions  clear ; 
Like  lightning's  flash,  they  caught  the  vivid  ray 
Which  Learning  shed  on  their  illumined  way. 

She  next  went  on  to  mention  the  authors  she  read  with  her  inti- 
mate cousin,  Lavinia  Buffum,  after  leaving  school  and  before  mar- 
riage :  — 

There  on  the  margin  of  the  rippling  brook 
We  sat,  and  pored  o'er  some  instructive  book ; 
Read  Milton's  page,  wise,  learned,  and  sublime. 
Or  soared  with  Young  beyond  the  bounds  of  time ; 
With  Thomson  viewed  the  varied  seasons  roll, 
Or  searched  with  Locke  the  mazes  of  the  soul ; 
With  Goldsmith  traversed  realms  and  states  unknown, 
Or  bowed  with  Burke  before  the  regal  throne  ; 
With  Hervey  pondered  o'er  the  mighty  dead. 
With  Homer  trod  where  Grecian  heroes  bled,  etc. 

The  same  poem  contains  a  tribute  to  the  scholarship  and 
piety  of  Elisha  Thornton,  the  leading  Quaker  minister  in  New 
England  in  the  period  following  the  Revolution,  and  also  a 
learned  teacher,  from  whom  Patience  Buffum  received  instruc- 
tion :  — 

Next  the  sage  Tutor  claims  my  humble  lays, 

Mild  in  his  manners,  wise  in  all  his  ways. 

Easy  of  access,  gentle,  peaceful,  kind, 

Endowed  by  nature  with  a  vigorous  mind. 


And  when  at  times  he  bowed  before  the  Throne 

Of  the  eternal,  omnipresent  One, 

In  holy,  awful,  reverential  prayer. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  heavenly  host  were  there. 

Dr.  Earle  goes  on  to  say:  — 

She  commemorated,  each  by  a  poem,  the  arrival  and  the  depart- 
ure of  Lafayette  on  his  visit  to  this  country  in  1S24-25.     When  we 


l6  THE    AMERICAN    QUAKERS 

visited  Worcester,  where  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  then  Hved, 
she  took  me  with  her  to  see  him ;  and  we  shook  hands  with  him  (in 
company  with  hundreds  of  other  persons)  as  he  stood  in  the  gateway 
in  front  of  the  residence  of  Governor  Levi  Lincoln,  a  mansion  after- 
wards enlarged  and  converted  into  a  hotel, —  the  Lincoln  House. 
The  portrait  of  Lafayette  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington  is  a  very 
accurate  likeness  of  him  as  we  that  day  saw  him. 

My  mother  was  an  elder  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  took  an  active 
part  in  the  women's  meeting,  and  always  sat  at  the  head  of  the 
meeting  when  no  minister  was  present.  She  was  liberal  and  chari- 
table in  all  her  views.  At  that  time  great  stress  was  placed  by  most 
of  the  society  upon  an  adhesion  to  the  custom  of  wearing  its  pecul- 
iar dress.  It  was  worn  by  me  until  I  was  thirty  years  old  (1840), 
when  I  adopted  the  fashionable  coat,*  not  being  then  at  my 
Leicester  home.  When  informed  of  the  change,  her  reply  to  the 
informer  was,  "  It  makes  but  little  difference  what  Pliny  wears,  so 
long  as  he  retains  his  integrity." 

It  is  plain  that  Patience  Earle  was  the  strong  religious  in- 
fluence in  the  household,  although  her  husband  is  well  de- 
scribed by  his  son  as  "a  conscientious  and  consistent  Quaker, 
free  from  bigotry,  and  without  unchristian  prejudice  against 
any  man  because  of  his  connection  with  some  other  denomina- 
tion. He  took  but  little  part  in  the  church  business  of  the 
society,  but  his  house  was  ever  open  to  its  members  ;  and  he 
took  pleasure  in  seeing  it  filled  at  the  monthly  and  quarterly 
meetings."  Neither  he  nor  his  wife  seems  to  have  shared  in 
the  controversy  which  raged  about  them  for  some  years  con- 
cerning Elias  Hicks  and  his  liberal  Quaker  following. 

Stimulated  and  united  by  persecution  in  the  first  century  of 
their  separation  from  the  Anglican  and  Puritan  churches,  the 
Quakers  continued  to  increase  and  to  hold  much  the  same 
opinions  until  about  1820,  when  the  eloquence  and  novelty  of 
the  discourses  of  Elias  Hicks,  the  friend  of  Walt  Whitman's 
forefathers  on  Long  Island,  began  to  stir  up  a  schism.  He 
was  a  Unitarian,  while  the  orthodox  Quakers  were  Trinitarians, 
and  held  to  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement  by  the  blood  of 
Christ.     They  were  naturally  shocked  when  Elias,  a  powerful 

•In  Philadelphia. 


1809-1837  17 

preacher,  cried  out  in  one  of  their  great  meetings  at  Philadel- 
phia, "The  blood  of  Christ, —  the  blood  of  Christ, —  why,  my 
friends,  the  actual  blood  of  Christ  was  no  more  effectual  in 
itself  than  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats, —  not  a  bit  more,  not 
a  bit,"  In  1826,  when  Pliny  Earle  was  beginning  his  course 
of  learning  and  teaching  at  Providence,  in  the  school  main- 
tained by  the  orthodox  Quakers  of  New  England,  his  brother 
Thomas,  then  a  practising  lawyer  in  Philadelphia,  wrote  thus 
to  their  brother  William  at  Leicester  :  — 

You  have  probably  heard  of  Elias  Hicks  being  here  lately 
[Dec.  31,  1S26],  and  of  the  efforts  of  the  Trinitarian  Quakers  to  put 
him  down.  The  missionaries  whom  the  London  Yearly  Meeting  of 
late  sends  so  profusely  among  us  are  quite  zealous  in  the  work. 
The  doctrine  of  the  orthodox  may  be  judged  by  two  facts.  The 
creed  of  George  Keith,*  who  many  years  ago  separated  from  the 
Friends  because  they  would  not  believe  in  that  creed,  was  read 
awhile  since  to  one  of  the  orthodox  ministers,  he  being  under  the 
impression  that  it  was  the  work  of  an  early  Quaker,  which  it  was 
contemplated  to  republish.  At  almost  every  sentence  he  would 
exclaim,  "Excellent!"  "Just  what  is  needed  at  the  present  time!" 
and  he  concluded  by  agreeing  to  take  two  dozen  copies  himself. 
The  other  instance  was  Isaac  Hopper's  reading  to  an  English  friend 
some  extracts  from  "  William  Penn's  Works,"  to  see  what  he  thought 
of  them.  So  Isaac  read  from  "The  Sandy  Foundation  Shaken  "  two 
detached  sentences.  The  Briton  was  almost  enraptured  with  them. 
"  There  it  is  !  "  said  he.  "  See,  that  is  just  the  doctrine  of  Friends  !  " 
But  when  Isaac  had  read  a  little  more,  to  show  that  what  he  had  so 
much  applauded  was  Mr.  Penn's  quotations  from  Episcopalians  and 
Presbyterians,  made  for  the  purpose  of  refuting  them,  the  man  was 
so  vexed  that  he  departed,  and  has  not  been  at  Isaac's  since. 

Elias's  meetings  this  time  have  been  attended  beyond  all  former 
example  both  in  the  city  and  country,  and,  I  think,  more  numerously 
than  those  of  any  preacher  of  any  sort  who  has  been  here  of  late 
years.       Hundreds  went  away  from  almost  every  meeting  because 

*  George  Keith  was  indeed  "  an  early  Quaker,'"  but  a  vers'  fickle  and  pugnacious  one,  who,  from 
hai,-ing  been  a  great  friend  and  travelling  companion  of  W.  Penn  and  Barclay'  of  Uri  (he  was  himself 
a  Scot),  turned  about  and  denounced  the  Quakers,  and  became  a  parson  of  the  Church  of  England, 
subscribing  to  its  creed  and  obeying  its  bishops.  He  lived  for  a  time  in  Pennsylvania,  and  years 
after  travelled  from  Maine  to  North  Carolina,  disputing  against  Quakers. 


l8  ENGLISH    AND    AMERICAN    QUAKERS 

they  could  not  obtain  admittance,  although  no  public  notice  was 
given  of  where  he  was  to  be.  This  was  doubtless  mortifying  to 
those  who  had  printed  notices  of  the  meetings  of  the  English 
preachers,  sent  them  to  most  of  the  houses,  and  stuck  them  up  in 
taverns,  and  yet  were  unable  to  obtain  meetings  more  than  half  as 
numerous  as  those  of  Elias.  The  stenographer  who  has  taken  down 
his  sermons  (first  employed  by  his  opponents)  says  that  in  the  coun- 
try near  ninety-nine  in  a  hundred  Friends,  old  and  young,  approve 
of  him.  Indeed,  he  met  with  no  opposition  in  the  country  except  at 
Darby,  where  X.,  from  London,  attacked  him.  In  Philadelphia  there 
is  one  monthly  meeting  nearly  unanimous  for  EHas.  The  others  are 
divided,  most  of  the  elders  and  members  of  the  "  meetings  of  suffer- 
ings "  being  against  him,  and  about  seven-eighths  of  the  people 
under  the  age  of  forty  being  in  his  favor. 

At  the  Pine  Street  meeting,  after  Elias  had  done  preaching,  Jona- 
than Evans,  "the  pope,"  got  up  to  make  "  public  opposition."  Yet, 
to  avoid  violating  the  letter  of  the  discipline,  he  was  careful  not  to 
say  a  word  about  Elias,  but  to  proclaim  a  number  of  things  as  the 
faith  of  the  society,  every  one  present  knowing  that  he  wished  it  to 
be  understood  that  Elias  held  the  contrary.  At  the  close  of  the 
meeting  Elias  offered  to  shake  hands  with  Jonathan,*  who  refused, 
saying :  "  I  don't  approve  of  thy  doctrines.  He  that  denies  the 
Son  denies  the  Father."  Elias  replied,  "  If  any  one  says  that  I 
deny  the  Son,  he  tells  what  is  untrue."  In  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day,  at  the  Twelfth  Street  meeting,  Elias  preached  to  the 
general  satisfaction  of  the  people.  After  he  had  done,  Thomas 
Wistar,  a  rich  and  haughty  elder,  got  up  to  violate  the  discipline  by 
"public  opposition,"  as  J.  Evans  had  done,  and  probably  in  pursu- 
ance of  previous  concert.  Immediately  a  clapping  in  the  gallery 
commenced,  to  drown  his  voice.  Hissing  was  soon  mingled  with 
clapping,  and  the  greatest  uproar  arose  which  I  ever  saw  in  meeting. 
"  Order  !  "  "  Order  1  "  resounded  from  several  quarters, —  "  Hear 
what  the  man  has  to  say !  "  etc.  Elias  rose,  and  begged  the  audience 
to  be  still  and  to  hear.  He  was  attended  to,  and  Thomas  finished 
his  testimony.  Elias  then  rose,  and  said  it  was  a  pity  the  meeting 
should  be  so  disturbed.  He  supposed  there  was  no  one  present  but 
believed  all   the  Friend  had  said.     The  refractory  elders  probably 

•The  customary  signal  for  breakinR  up  a  meeting  is  for  two  elders  sitting  next  each  other  on  the 
"high  seat"  to  shake  hands. 


1809-1837  19 

adopted  their  course  in  despair  of  doing  anything  against  Elias  in 
the  manner  required  by  discipline. 

The  orthodox  appealed  to  the  press,  three  or  four  years  since,  in 
hopes  to  overthrow  Elias  Hicks.  They  published  tracts  and  Elias's 
sermons  ;  but  the  other  party  published  tracts  also,  and  the  sermons 
operated  differently  from  what  the  orthodox  hoped.  They  have  now 
become  anxious  to  muzzle  the  press,  and  complained  of  one  Friend 
for  circulating  the  Berean,  a  Quaker  periodical  published  at  Wilming- 
ton. The  overseers  dismissed  the  complaint,  unable  to  find  any- 
thing bad  in  the  work  except  the  proceedings  of  the  Bible  Society  in 
England,  where  the  Right  Worshipful  Mr.  Somebody  (of  the  Epis- 
copal Church)  spoke,  and  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Some- 
body, of  the  Society  of  Friends.  This  was  published  in  the  Berean 
to  show  the  disposition  of  English  Quakers  to  amalgamate  with  the 
Churchmen  and  aristocracy,  who  take  the  food  from  the  mouths  of 
the  laborers  of  that  country.  Gould,  the  stenographer,  has  com- 
menced a  work  called  The  Quaker,  to  be  published  semi-monthly, 
each  number  to  contain  a  sermon  by  some  minister  of  the  society, 
together  with  selections  from  early  Friends'  writings  or  the  Script- 
ures in  corroboration  of  the  sermon.  The  first  number  has  a  very 
good  sermon  of  Elias  Hicks,  preached  at  Darby.  This  work  has 
frightened  the  "  meeting  of  sufferings,"  which  appointed  a  committee 
to  put  a  stop  to  it.  Having  an  idle  notion  that  the  law  would  aid 
them,  they  went  to  Horace  Binney  for  counsel,  who  told  them  they 
could  not  suppress  it.  Nevertheless,  they  put  on  a  bold  front,  and 
went  to  Gould  last  week,  demanding  that  he  should  stop  the  work. 
He  replied  that  he  could  not :  his  support  depended  on  it.  They 
then  said  that  the  meeting  would  not  encourage  it.  He  replied  it 
was  unnecessary,  as  he  was  satisfied  with  his  patronage,  having  one 
thousand  subscribers.  He  also  informed  Samuel  Biddle,  one  of  the 
committee,  that  the  first  Quaker  sermons  he  ever  took  down  were  in 
his  (Samuel's)  own  house,  at  the  request  of  his  son,  and  by  him  paid 
for.  They  were  the  sermons  of  William  Forster  and  Stevenson, 
and  were  found  unworthy  of  publication.  Among  other  things,  they 
told  Gould  that  Friends  never  had  approved  of  having  their  sermons 
published.  He  said  they  must  be  mistaken,  as  he  had  seen  the 
sermons  of  at  least  three  Quakers  in  the  Friends'  Library  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

In  a  letter  of  April   24,   1828,   Thomas  Earle  sums  up  the 


20  ENGLISH    AND    AMERICAN    QUAKERS 

points  of  difference  between  the  Hicksites,  whom  he  calls 
"  Friends,"  and  the  orthodox  Quakers,  in  some  terse  sentences, 
where  allowance  must  be  made  for  some  partisan  bias  :  — 

The  orthodox  think  much  of  doctrines,  the  Friends  much  of  good 
works ;  the  orthodox  much  of  wealth,  the  Friends  of  a  contented 
mind ;  the  orthodox  would  call  the  righteous,  the  Friends  would  call 
sinners,  to  repentance  ;  the  orthodox  think  much,  the  Friends  but 
little,  of  appearances.  The  orthodox  give  the  Supreme  Being  a 
character  less  merciful  than  belongs  even  to  men :  the  Friends  think 
his  mercy  is  infinite.  The  orthodox  think  men  are  punished  for  the 
sins  of  Adam  :  the  Friends  do  not.  The  orthodox  believe  in  the 
Trinity  :  the  Friends  do  not.  The  orthodox  subject  their  reason 
and  their  perceptions  to  the  doubtful  language  of  ancient  books  :  the 
Friends  try  the  merit  of  ancient  books  by  their  own  reason  and  sense 
of  truth.  The  orthodox  think  their  erring  fellow-creatures  are  to  be 
shunned  almost  as  wild  beasts :  the  Friends  think  they  should  be 
compassionated,  kindly  treated,  and  reformed.  The  orthodox  appear 
proud,  or  have  a  proud  look, —  they  speak  of  "the  rabble":  the 
Friends  are  of  different  appearance  and  conversation.  The  orthodox 
believe  a  man  punishable  for  his  opinions,  the  Friends  only  for 
actions,  as  they  believe  opinions  to  be  involuntary.  The  orthodox 
seem  to  think  that  a  shade  of  virtue  above  a  certain  point  secures  a 
man  eternal  happiness,  and  a  shade  below  that  point  dooms  him  to 
eternal  misery  :  the  Friends  believe  that  every  vicious  act  receives 
its  appropriate  punishment  (by  mental  affliction  or  otherwise),  and 
every  virtuous  act  its  appropriate  reward.  The  Friends  think  that 
the  society  at  large  has  a  right  to  judge  what  measures  are  proper 
and  who  are  its  most  pious  and  discreet  members  :  the  orthodox 
think  a  small  number  of  individuals  have  a  right  to  determine  that 
themselves  are  the  most  pious  and  discreet,  and,  having  so  deter- 
mined, have  a  right  to  dictate  what  course  the  society  shall  pursue. 

At  this  time  the  Leicester  Quakers  had  a  large  meeting  ;  and 
those  of  the  society  living  in  Worcester  came  over  on  First 
Days  and  at  other  times  to  worship  in  the  plain  house  near  the 
brook,  under  Earle  Ridge.  But  none  of  these  dissensions  seem 
to  have  troubled  their  united  body.  In  November,  1837,  while 
Dr.  Earle  was  in  Paris,  the  Worcester  Quakers  began  to  hold 


1809-1837  21 

First  Day  meetings  in  their  own  town,  and  the  Leicester 
Friends  to  join  them;  and  now  for  many  years  the  Worcester 
meeting  has  been  the  only  one,  and  the  Leicester  meeting- 
house has  disappeared.  The  slavery  question  introduced  some 
discord,  apparently ;  for  Lucy  Earle,  writing  to  Pliny  Dec.  3, 
1837,  tells  him  that  at  the  Worcester  First  Day  meeting  of 
November  26  "  there  was  a  colored  man  by  the  name  of  Roberts, 
one  of  the  most  respectable  in  Worcester,  and  Brother  Anthony 
Chase  (who,  by  the  way,  is  a  zealous  Abolitionist)  took  a  seat 
beside  him," —  a  remarkable  fact  in  those  days  of  darkness. 

This  long  report  of  the  stir  among  the  quiet  Quakers  indi- 
cates that  Thomas  Earle  sympathized  with  the  Hicksite 
Friends  ;  and  this  was  true  of  several  of  the  family.  But  Pliny 
was  always  rather  more  conservative  in  politics  and  religion 
than  his  older  brothers, —  John,  Thomas,  and  William, —  though 
ever  inclining  to  liberal  opinions.  He  kept  his  place  in  the 
Providence  school  *  undisturbed  by  the  contest  over  doctrines, 
and  there  prepared  himself,  by  the  study  of  books  and  the  in- 
struction of  others,  for  his  future  career.  He  hesitated  awhile 
between  medicine  and  the  legal  profession,  in  which  his 
brother  Thomas  had  distinguished  himself  before  1830;  and  he 
allowed  the  success  of  his  brother,  John  Milton  Earle,  as  a  jour- 
nalist, to  draw  him  early  into  journalistic  work.  But,  when  he 
finally  took  up   medicine,  he  mastered  its  preliminaries,   and 

*  Young  Pliny  Earle  was  for  a  time  open  to  engagement  as  a  teacher  elsewhere  than  in  Provi- 
dence ;  for  a  letter  of  his  uncle,  Arnold  Buffum,  April  22,  1830,  makes  him  two  offers  from  Fall  River : 
first,  the  editorship  of  an  "  Antimasonick  paper  published  in  this  village,  with  six  hundred  sub- 
scribers" ;  and,  next,  "  the  school  in  our  new  school-house,  which  will  be  finished  now  in  a  few  days." 
He  accepted  the  latter,  apparently  ;  for  he  began  a  school  in  Fall  River  July  17,  1830.  But  what  pre- 
vented his  editing  the  newspaper  is  not  recorded.  Jlr.  Buffum's  statement  of  the  afiair  is  interesting : 
"  The  establishment  belongs  to  a  company  who  will  be  satisfied  with  about  $75  a  year  for  the  rent  of 
building,  press  and  all,  and  would  give  up  the  concern  to  the  editor,  or  they  will  have  it  conducted 
on  their  account,  and  will  pay  a  salary.  They  have  been  sadly  disappointed  in  the  qualifications  of 
the  publisher,  and  are  fully  determined  to  get  another  person  to  take  his  place  immediately.  They 
were  about  trjing  to  get  David  Daniels,  but  learned  that  he  was  gone  to  Baltimore.  If  thou  hast  any 
inclination  to  engage  in  the  newspaper  concern,  thou  had  better  come  down  here  immediately." 

Anti-masonry  was  then  being  made  the  basis  of  a  political  party;  and  young  Seward  came  into 
prominence,  with  Thurlow  Weed,  in  that  movement,  in  which,  also,  William  Wirt,  the  brilliant  Balti- 
more lawyer,  and  John  Quincy  Adams  were  concerned.  The  Earles  had  been  contributing  to  a  semi- 
literary  weekly  in  Worcester,  the  Talisma?t;  but  probably  Pliny  felt  no  call  to  edit  a  political  organ. 
Literature  and  scholarship  were  native  to  the  Leicester  family  ;  and  Sarah  Earle,  ten  years  older  than 
Pliny,  was  not  only  an  active  member  of  the  "  Leicester  Female  Literary  Society,"— half  a  century 
before  the  era  of  women's  clubs  began, —  but  the  founder  of  the  JNIulberry  Grove  Boarding-school,  at 
her  father's  homestead,  as  early  as  1827.  She  had  previously  been  a  teacher  in  the  Friends'  School 
at  Pro\idence. 


THE    PROVIDENCE    SCHOOL 


eventually  became  eminent  in  one  of  its  most  difficult  special- 
ties. Both  these  elder  brothers  were  ardent  political  reformers ; 
and  Thomas,  who  died  in  1849,  said  of  himself,  "My  democracy 
is  that  which  was  advocated  by  Jefferson,  my  religion  that  of 
the  New  Testament."  Their  father  had  been  an  opponent  of 
Jefferson  ;  and  Dr.  Earle  preserved  a  letter  from  the  Worcester 
Congressman  (Seth  Hastings)  in  March,  1806,  during  Jeffer- 
son's second  term,  in  which  he  told  his  Leicester  constituent : 
"  I  believe  it  is  rather  troublesome  times  with  our  Executive 
and  his  friends  and  supporters  in  Congress  :  they  are  in  great 
perplexity  how  to  manage  and  guide  our  political  barque."  It 
was  evidently  the  wish  of  Mr.  Hastings  towards  Jefferson,  as  of 
Daniel  "Webster  towards  President  Madison  in  181 3,  to  increase 
his  troubles  and  perplexities  in  holding  the  helm  of  state.  Dr. 
Earle,  and  probably  his  father,  had  little  of  this  desire  to  em- 
barrass the  government  of  his  country,  whatever  it  might  be ; 
and  he  never  took  so  active  a  part  as  his  brothers  in  political 
agitation,  though  always  on  the  side  of  freedom  and  civilization. 
In  entering  the  Friends'  Boarding-school  at  Providence,  as 
a  pupil,  which  he  did  in  September,  1826,  Pliny  Earle  was  but 
going  from  the  companionship  of  brothers  and  sisters  to  that  of 
cousins  ;  for  Rhode  Island  abounded  with  his  mother's  relatives, 
the  Buffums,  and  he  had  as  many  uncles  and  aunts  there  as  in 
the  vicinity  of  Leicester.  In  1832,  while  one  of  the  four  teach- 
ers of  this  school,  which  then  numbered  one  hundred  and  thirty 
pupils,  of  both  sexes,  no  less  than  eleven  of  them  were  his 
cousins.  He  early  displayed  a  taste  for  botany  and  natural 
history,  and  lectured  to  his  classes  with  zest  on  those  sciences  ; 
but  his  usual  duties  at  first  were  to  teach  spelling,  writing, 
grammar,  and  the  mathematics.  He  was  the  first  to  introduce 
in  the  school  the  now  universal  method  of  writing  down  the 
words  to  be  spelled  ;  and  he  found  the  usual  difficulties  in  com- 
municating to  his  pupils  the  anomalous  spelling  of  our  irreg- 
ular mother  tongue.     He  says:  — 

When  my  spelling-class  consisted  of  twenty-one,  I  put  the  names 
of  the  twenty-four  United  States  to  them.  They  spelled  on  their 
slates  ;  and  I  found  more  than  two  hundred  mistakes, —  an  average 


1809-1837  23 

of  ten  apiece.  Again,  when  there  were  twent}^-seven  in  the  class,  I 
made  a  list  of  fifty-two  words, — the  names  of  vegetables,  berries, 
fruit-trees,  utensils  of  the  farm  and  kitchen,  articles  of  clothing,  etc., 
—  things  commonly  known  to  them.  They  spelled  wrong,  in  the  ag- 
gregate, three  hundred  and  ninety-one  times.  Two  words,  "mocca- 
sin" and  "vinegar-cruet,"  were  missed  by  all.  In  an  additional 
list  of  sixty-one  words,  a  class  of  twenty-eight  made  six  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  mistakes.  These,  however,  were  more  difiicult  words. 
One  youth  of  seventeen  made  forty-three  errors. 

This  extract  from  one  of  his  letters  of  1833  shows  how  early 
the  statistical  habit  was  formed,  and  how  practical  his  turn  of 
mind  was,  even  when  his  head  was  full  of  snatches  of  verse, 
learned  from  Scott  and  Byron,  and  when  he  had  already  begun 
to  publish  both  verse  and  prose,  and  was  looking  forward  with 
some  longing  to  a  literary  life.  In  this  hope  his  lectures  on 
botany  were  given,  as  well  as  for  the  purposes  of  instruction. 
Writing  to  his  sister  Eliza,  in  May,  1835,  he  says:  — 

In  the  course  of  my  botanical  lecture  last  evening,  w^ho  should 
make  his  appearance  in  the  room  but  brother  Charles  (Hadwen), 
bearing  a  noble  specimen  of  the  Trillmm  atropurpureum  which  he  had 
brought  for  my  special  benefit  from  Worcester.  It  was  the  first  of 
the  genus  that  I  have  seen  ;  and  it  came  peculiarly  apropos,  for  it 
gave  me  an  excellent  subject  for  a  peroration.  The  uniformity  of  its 
organs,  its  remarkable  adherence  to  the  number  three  (exemplified  in 
most  of  the  monocotyledons),  furnished  a  good  opportunity  to  im- 
press on  the  minds  of  the  class  the  wonderful  harmony  and  beauty 
of  organization  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  I  have  given  six  lect- 
ures, but  have  only  entered  the  portals  of  the  science.  All  the 
teachers  and  about  sixty  scholars  attend  the  course.  We  make  long 
botanical  excursions  every  Saturday  afternoon.  It  is  ever  a  pleasure 
to  me  to  impart  instruction ;  but  I  must  acknowledge  that  one  of  the 
primary  motives  in  attempting  these  lectures  was  self-improvement. 

The  religious  seclusion  of  the  Leicester  Quakers  in  the 
childhood  of  Dr.  Earle  was  more  marked  than  it  has  since 
become.  As  Worcester  and  the  other  neighboring  towns  grew 
in  population,  the  Quaker  families  made  Leicester,  and  the 
Earle  region  in  it,  their  religious  centre,  driving  up  the  long 


24  ENGLISH    AND    AMERICAN    QUAKERS 

hills  and  through  the  winding  valleys  on  First  Day  and  Fifth 
Day  to  take  part  in  the  meetings  —  often  wholly  silent  — 
which  assembled  in  the  little  chapel  near  the  brook  and  the 
wood.  As  will  be  noticed  hereafter,  in  a  letter  of  Sarah 
Earle's,  the  Friends  seldom  tested  their  faith  by  attending 
other  places  of  worship ;  and,  though  they  mingled  with  their 
Calvinistic  or  Unitarian  neighbors  in  the  schools  of  the  town, 
in  literary  and  political  activity,  and  in  social  amenities,  they 
were  in  most  respects  a  people  apart.  Their  ordinary  life  was 
plain  and  simple;  and  certain  habits,  now  outgrown,  were  found 
among  them.  Tobacco  was  used  more  than  now  by  women,  in 
the  form  of  snuff,  and  even  of  smoking ;  and  an  aged  friend 
of  the  family  remembers  calling  on  Dr.  Earle's  mother,  some 
half-century  ago,  and  finding  her  smoking  a  pipe  beside  her 
broad  kitchen  chimney.*  In  politics  and  philanthropy  the 
Friends  were  commonly  in  advance  of  other  sects.  The  early 
anti-slavery  movement  found  much  support  among  Quakers, 
and  Dr.  Earle  had  his  opinions  on  that  national  question  early 
formed.  I  do  not  find  that  he  was  ever  very  deeply  enthusi- 
astic, as  some  of  his  coreligionists  were,  in  his  religious  exer- 
cises. He  was  naturally  averse  to  controversy,  even  in  youth, 
and  had  little  of  that  spirit  of  propagandism  which  brought 
J.  J.  Gurney  to  America,  in  1837,  to  advocate  the  orthodox 
theological  views,  which  commended  themselves  so  earnestly 
to  him.  He  preached  in  the  Leicester  Quaker  meeting,  but 
while  Dr.  Earle  was  absent  in  Europe ;  and  he  published  fer- 
vent and  sometimes  polemical  treatises,  upholding  the  ortho- 
dox side  of  the  dispute  then  going  forward.  Questions  of 
slavery  and  social  reform  agitated  the  minds  of  the  Worcester 
and  Leicester  Quakers  far  more  than  doctrines  of  the  then 
current  theology. 

*  While  James  I.  was  persecuting  Puritans,  he  was  scarcely  less  zealous  against  the  use  of  the 
newly  discovered  American  herb,— tobacco.  Perhaps  for  that  reason  it  spread  rapidly  among 
the  New  England  people ;  and  in  my  boyhood  there  were  many  snuff-takers,  and  not  a  few  pipe- 
users,  among  elderly  women.  I  remember  the  wonder  which  struck  me  as  a  boy,  returning  from 
school,  where  we  were  taught  by  the  "school-ma'am"  that  all  use  of  tobacco  was  sinful,  when 
I  stepped  into  my  mother's  kitchen,  and  there  found  two  stout  old  women,  my  mother's  aunts  (one 
of  them  the  mother  of  Moses  Xorris,  then  in  Congress  from  New  Hampshire),  sitting  by  the  great 
fireplace,  smoking  pipes.  The  mother  of  General  h.  !•'.  Butler,  a  New  Hampshire  woman  twenty 
years  younger,  also  had  this  habit,  as  I  was  told  by  an  acquaintance,  who  said  he  had  often  smoked 
with  her  in  her  kitchen  at  Deerfield,  N.H. 


1809-1837  25 

The  Quakers,  with  their  traditional  dislike  of  "  hireling  min- 
isters "  and  willingness  to  hear  women  preach  and  pray,  took 
a  deeper  interest  than  they  otherwise  might  have  done  in  the 
appearance,  in  1837,  of  those  South  Carolina  sisters,  Angelina 
and  Sarah  Grimke,*  on  the  platform,  pleading  against  slavery ; 
for  the  Calvinistic  clergy  of  Massachusetts  opposed  them 
fiercely.  J.  M.  Earle,  writing  to  his  brother  at  Paris,  Nov. 
30,  1837,  says  :  — 

The  Grimke  sisters  were  lately  here,  and  made  their  home  at  my 
house  while  lecturing,  for  about  a  week,  in  this  and  the  adjacent 
towns.  We  were  much  interested  in  them.  They  are  very  intelli- 
gent and  capable,  and  very  much  devoted  to  the  abolition  cause. 
Angelina  takes  the  lead  in  public  estimation.  She  is  the  best 
rhetorician,  has  the  best  person  and  voice,  with  a  very  imposing 
manner,  and  is  considered  eloquent.  S.  J.  May,  in  speaking  of 
one  of  her  lectures,  says  he  "never  before  heard  such  eloquence 
from  human  lips."  Yet  we  were  better  pleased  with  Sarah.  Her 
mind  is  naturally  superior  to  Angelina's,  and  has  been  better  disci- 
phned.  Her  feelings,  also,  have  been  more  disciplined;  and  that 
of  itself  has  an  important  influence  on  character.  The  First  Day, 
on  the  evening  of  which  Angelina  was  to  give  her  first  lecture, 
Woodbridge,  minister  of  the  Union  Society,  exhorted  his  hearers, 
as  they  loved  religion,  as  they  loved  him,  and  by  the  most  solemn 
obligations  which  rest  upon  Christians,  not  to  violate  their  duty  and 

*  Sarah  Grimke,  bom  in  1792,  and  Angelina,  a  younger  sister,  were  daughters  of  an  eminent 
judge  in  Charleston,  S.C, —  the  latter  became  Mrs.  Theodore  Weld;  and  both  had  long  before 
1S37  become  convinced  of  the  sin  and  the  dangers  of  negro  slavery.  In  1836  they  published  their 
"Appeal  to  the  Women  of  the  South"  on  the  subject,  and  early  in  1837  they  began  to  address 
audiences  in  New  York  and  New  England.  Samuel  Joseph  May,  above  quoted  (brother  of  Mrs. 
Bronson  Alcott),  was  then  pastor  in  South  Scituate ;  and  the  occasion  of  his  remark  was  the  close  of 
Angelina's  appeal  in  favor  of  emancipation,  given  at  his  church  in  October,  1S37.  The  Worcester 
County  ministers  were  misguided  enough  to  issue  a  "  Pastoral  Letter"  against  the  speaking  of  these 
women,  which  drew  forth  from  young  Whittier  the  poem  in  which  occur  these  oft-quoted  lines :  — 

Your  fathers  dealt  not  as  ye  deal 

With. "non-professing"  frantic  teachers; 
They  bored  the  tongue  with  red-hot  steel. 

And  flayed  the  back  of  "female  preachers  "  : 
Old  Newbury,  had  her  fields  a  tongue, 

And  Salem  streets  could  tell  their  story 
Of  fainting  women  dragged  along. 

Gashed  by  the  whip  accursed  and  gory. 

His  allusion  was  to  the  whipping  of  Quaker  women  from  Dover  and  Hampton,  by  order  of  Richard 
Waldron  of  New  Hampshire,  and  similar  outrages  in  Newbury  and  Salem,  when  Endicott  was 
Governor  of  Massachusetts. 


26  LEICESTER    AND    THE    EARLE    FAMILY 

their  principles  so  much  as  to  go  and  hear  those  who  trampled 
under  foot  that  Scripture  which  declares  that  a  woman  is  not 
allowed  to  be  heard  in  the  church.  Yet  that  very  evening  it  is 
said  that  both  his  deacons  and  a  great  portion  of  his  church  mem- 
bers went  to  hear  her,  and  I  now  hear  that  only  four  of  his  church 
members  approve  his  views  on  the  slave  question.  The  walls  of 
prejudice  are  evidently  giving  way.  Abolition  is  looked  upon, 
among  Friends,  with  very  different  eyes  from  what  it  formerly  was. 
An  Indiana  j-early  meeting  has  recently  advised  its  members,  indi- 
vidually, to  aid  other  Christians  engaged  in  the  work  of  anti-slavery. 

When  these  sisters  and  daughters  of  South  Carolina  slave- 
holders first  began  to  speak  in  public,  only  women  were  ex- 
pected to  attend.  An  earlier  letter  of  Lucy  Earle  (August, 
1837)  makes  this  remark  :  — 

When  the  Grimkes  lectured  in  Salem,  it  was  understood  there 
would  be  no  objection  to  gentlemen  attending.  Accordingly,  at 
an  early  hour,  the  meeting-house  was  crowded,  not  only  inside,  but 
about  the  doors  and  windows.  A  gentleman  who  was  there  re- 
marked, "Those  ladies  are  doing  more  in  the  cause  than  any  two 
men  engaged  in  it." 

In  the  case  of  Dr.  Earle,  his  sisters  and  brothers,  the  ten- 
dency was  more  and  more  towards  science  and  literature ;  and, 
through  the  efforts  of  Sarah  Earle  and  a  few  others,  a  woman's 
literary  circle  was  formed  in  Leicester,  before  1820,  and  when 
women's  clubs  were  quite  unknown.  Her  Mulberry  Grove 
Boarding-school  continued  to  be  a  successful  establishment  for 
a  dozen  years.  Its  name  was  due  to  the  fact  that  her  father, 
in  his  tree-planting,  took  up  for  years  the  industry  of  growing 
mulberry-trees,  in  order  to  raise  silk  from  the  foliage,  and  at 
his  death,  in  1832,  left  sixty  or  seventy  of  these  fine  trees  on 
his  farm.  For  the  same  reason  the  road  which  now  traverses 
the  farm  from  north  to  south  is  called  "  Mulberry  Street." 
The  young  teachers  —  Sarah,  Eliza,  and  Pliny  Earle  —  culti- 
vated poetry  and  literary  prose,  and  contributed  often  to  publi- 
cations now  forgotten,  but  which  helped  to  form  their  style  by 
frequent  practice.     In  these  pursuits  and  incessant  occupations, 


1809-1837  27 

practical,  educational,  and  literary,  the  childhood  and  youth  of 
Dr.  Earle  glided  along,  with  no  great  crises,  and  no  graver 
anxieties  than  usually  attend  the  passage  from  boy  to  man. 
His  family  surroundings  were  happy,  liberal,  and  hospitable. 
He  was  handsome,  ingenious,  and  eager  for  achievement,  but 
was  fortunate  enough  not  to  be  thrust  too  early  into  the  battle 
of  active  life.  He  began  to  teach  others  at  nineteen,  was  ready 
for  the  practice  of  a  philanthropic  profession  at  twenty-seven, 
but  wisely  decided  to  see  more  of  the  world  before  settling  into 
a  local  situation.  Hence,  the  real  commencement  of  his  active 
career  was  his  tour  in  Europe  in  1837-39. 

School-teaching  was  so  natural  to  the  youth  of  New  England 
two  generations  ago  that  to  "  take  a  school "  was  hardly  more 
than  it  now  is  to  take  a  journey  to  Chicago.  Dr.  Earle's  first 
school  was  at  Fall  River,  and  began  July,  1830, —  a  season 
when  all  schools  are  now  in  vacations.  We  have  little  record 
of  it;  but  in  a  letter  of  the  following  autumn  (September  12) 
he  says,  "  I  am  now  giving  a  course  of  lectures  on  Astronomy, 
and  my  time  is  wholly  taken  up  with  those  and  my  other 
duties."  The  same  letter  gives  rhetorical  expression  to  the 
double  desire  that  was  ever  dividing  his  heart, —  the  wish  to 
remain  among  the  scenes  of  his  childhood  and  the  love  of  new 
scenes  and  new  acquirements.     He  says  :  — 

A  separation  from  the  scenes  and  the  friends  which  are  rendered 
dear  by  early  intercourse  —  associated  with  all  the  fond  recollections 
of  days  when  care  was  unknown  and  sorrow  but  the  shadow  of  a 
name  —  will  be  hard  for  me.  I  have  never  until  lately  learned  the 
permanency  and  depth  with  which  the  love  of  home  is  graven  on  the 
heart.  Possessing  a  passion  of  an  opposite  nature, —  a  longing  de- 
sire to  be  acquainted  with  other  places, —  I  have  considered  home 
rather  as  a  theme  for  poets.  But  my  opinion  now  is  that  love  of 
home  is  an  affection  that  lives  throughout  existence, —  an  indelible 
principle. 

This  affection  was  continually  drawing  Dr.  Earle  back  to 
Leicester,  though  his  life  was  most  of  it  spent  elsewhere. 
And  it  rested,  primarily,  on  a  deep  recognition  of  how  much  he 
owed  to   his   devoted  father  and  mother,   whose  lives    moved 


28  THE    LEICESTER    EARLES 

there  in  a  far  narrower  circle  than  his  own.  Writing,  in  1832, 
in  anticipation  of  his  father's  death,  which  occurred  in  that 
year,  he  said  :  — 

I  have  often  thought  that,  in  whatever  situation  we  brothers  and 
sisters  may  find  ourselves, —  whatever  may  be  our  characters  or  our 
success  in  the  world, —  we  can  never  throw  the  least  shadow  of  re- 
proach upon  our  parents.  They  have  done  everything  in  their 
power  for  our  benefit ;  and,  though  they  may  have  failed  in  one 
respect  (which  indeed  is  of  trifling  importance)  to  do  so  much  as 
they  wished,  that  failure  was  owing  to  events  beyond  individual 
human  agency  to  control.  And  are  not  those  benefits  we  have  re- 
ceived of  far  greater  value  than  wealth  ?  If  we  compare  the  situa- 
tion of  our  family  with  that  of  the  great  mass  of  people,  shall  we  not 
find  abundant  cause  to  be  thankful  ? 

The  unity  of  that  large  family  circle,  of  which  Dr.  Earle  was 
the  last,  was  very  little  disturbed  by  the  course  of  events, 
whether  prosperous  or  adverse.  Like  the  prospect  from  their 
native  hills,  they  took  a  broad  and  sunny  view  of  life  ;  or,  if 
dark  hours  came,  they  supported  each  other  till  the  clouds 
passed  away. 


CHAPTER  II. 

OBSERVATIONS  IN  NEW    ENGLAND    AND    PHILADELPHIA  ( 1 827-37). 

Quiet  as  had  been  Dr.  Earle's  home  life  up  to  his  eigh- 
teenth year,  he  had  the  inborn  instinct  to  travel  and  know  the 
world  by  sight,  which  was  one  of  the  traits  of  the  New  Eng- 
land man,  as  it  has  been  of  his  English  cousins.  His  short  ex- 
cursions around  Leicester,  in  aid  of  the  family  business,  had 
for  him  the  stimulus  of  curiosity  and  novelty,  as  well  as  the 
sense  of  duty ;  and,  when  he  became  a  schoolmaster,  he  grati- 
fied his  inclination  by  longer  journeys,  of  which  he  has  left 
some  record.  In  the  complete  change  that  has  come  over  the 
Northern  States  in  all  matters  of  industry,  locomotion,  race- 
distribution,  etc.,  within  the  past  sixty  years,  these  itineraries 
and  observations  have  a  quaint  interest. 

Trip  to  Fall  River  ajid  Nantucket. 

[1830.]  May  16. —  After  leaving  Worcester  for  Providence,  in  the 
stage-coach,  the  first  place  at  which  we  stopped  was  Waters'  Village, 
in  Millbury,  where,  when  I  alighted,  I  was  met  by  the  son  of  Waters, 
who  told  me  he  had  a  fine  horse  and  gig  which  he  wished  to  send  to 
Providence.  Glad  of  the  opportunity,  I  offered  to  drive  it;  and  I 
could  thus  be  at  liberty  to  call  upon  my  friends  as  I  went.  Soon 
I  was  transferred  from  the  lumbering  old  stage  to  a  light  gig,  with 
a  horse  that  would  easily  carry  me  eight  miles  an  hour.  I  therefore 
called  on  Uncle  Thomas  Buffum's  family,  whom  I  found  pleasantly 
situated,  then  for  a  few  minutes  at  Uncle  William  Arnold's,  and 
next  proceeded  to  Uncle  William  Buffum's,  where  I  found  them  at 
dinner.  Considering  that  I  might  not  be  so  fortunate  at  any  other 
place,  I  ventured  to  partake  with  them.  I  next  called  at  Uncle 
Otis's,  and  then  at  Daniel  Robinson's, —  a  very  different  journey 
from  that  by  the  stage-coach. 

At  Pawtucket  I  met  with  a  student  from  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asy- 
lum at  Hartford,  just  returned.     He  has  been  there  but  two  years ; 


30  FALL    RIVER    AND    NANTUCKET 

yet  it  was  astonishing  to  see  how  much  knowledge  he  had  acquired. 
Almost  any  question  I  asked  him  was  answered  with  much  facility 
and  accuracy.  If  he  could  not  at  once  comprehend  the  question,  a 
melancholy  gloom  came  over  his  face ;  but,  when  the  idea  struck  his 
mind,  how  quickly  his  features  lightened  with  the  glow  of  conscious 
intelligence !  Debarred  as  such  persons  are  from  the  power  of 
speech,  they  acquire  the  power  of  expressing  slight  variations  of 
passion  and  emotion  by  the  countenance  more  readily  than  the  rest 
of  us. 

I  spent  two  days  in  Providence,  and  lodged  at  Uncle  Sam's,  where 
I  met  Cousin  Rebecca  Buffum,  who  was  visiting  Providence  to  at- 
tend the  infant  school,*  and  become  more  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  their  system  of  instruction.  I  went  with  her  to  the  school 
taught  by  Charlotte  Bradley,  which  is  yet  quite  small. 

This  was  that  period  in  the  development  of  education  in  New 
England  when  infant  schools,  which  had  been  rather  neglected, 
were  taken  up  with  zeal  by  the  friends  of  a  better  instruction. 
And  it  was  to  be  concerned  in  such  a  Boston  establishment 
that  Bronson  Alcott  had  removed  from  Connecticut  to  Boston 
a  few  years  earlier.  The  Quakers  took  much  interest  in  his 
school  reforms,  and  it  was  by  them  that  he  was  invited  to 
Philadelphia  in  1831. 

Fifth  Day  [Thursday]  I  was  tumbled  over  the  road  from  Provi- 
dence to  Fall  River, —  a  better  prescription  and  more  effectual 
remedy  for  gout  than  all  the  nostrums  imposed  upon  the  world  since 
the  god  ^sculapius  was  invented.  I  took  tea  at  William  Newhall's, 
where  I  was  met  by  Uncle  Arnold  [Buffum  t],  whom  I  accompanied 
home.  Saturday  morning  I  met  Uncle  Silas  [Earle],  and  soon  after 
began  a  morning's  walk  to  Tiverton,  three  miles  below  Fall  River. 
On  the  way  I  stopped  where  Mount  Hope  Bay  lay  stretched  out 
before  me,  bounded  by  the  land  on  the  Rhode  Island  side  where  the 
mount  itself  rises  with  its  cliff  and  crags  against  the  western  sky. 
I  had  long  wished  to  visit  that  hill,  once  the  abode  of  the  Indian 
King  Philip,  grandson  of   Massasoit;    and  I  therefore  chartered  a 

♦Afterwards  Mrs.  Marcus  Spring,  of  New  York,  and  now  (i8g8)  in  Califoniia. 

tThis  was  the  brother  of  Dr.  Earlc's  motlier,  and  the  father  of  Mrs.  Marcus  Spring,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Chace,  and  other  cousins  mentioned  in  the  letters.  He  had  visited  Europe  for  the  first 
time  a  few  years  earlier,  and  was  active  in  reforms. 


1827-1837  31 

boat,  took  an  oarsman,  and  in  an  hour  was  landed  on  the  opposite 

shore. 

Where  Hope  lifts  up  its  craggy  sides, 

but  not  now,  as  in  old  times, 

Clothed  with  forests  deep  and  dun. 

A  few  minutes'  walk  brought  me  to  the  base  of  that  rugged  perpen- 
dicular crag  where  is  the  celebrated  "  seat "  of  King  Philip, —  a 
throne  hewn  by  Nature's  hand  from  the  everlasting  rock.  I  usurped 
the  regal  chair,  and  sat  where  that  ruler  of  a  savage  nation  once 
reclined.  It  is  on  the  eastern  dechvity  of  the  hill,  at  the  foot  of 
a  precipice  fifty  feet  high,  and  itself  raised  three  or  four  feet  above 
the  ground.  Immediately  under  it  is  the  well,  six  or  seven  feet  deep, 
from  which,  they  say,  Philip  quenched  his  heroic  thirst.  The  wild 
honeysuckle  [columbine]  grows  in  great  profusion  around ;  and  I 
enclose  a  flower  of  it,  which  I  plucked  from  the  chair  itself.  One 
of  the  De  Wolfs  of  Bristol  built  a  fine  summer-house  on  the  summit 
of  Mount  Hope  a  few  years  since,  but  it  is  fast  dropping  in  pieces. 
I  recrossed  the  bay,  and  after  a  two-mile  walk  arrived  at  A.  Barker's. 
Neither  he  nor  his  wife  was  at  home ;  but,  as  it  was  two  o'clock, 
and  I  was  fatigued,  I  made  myself  at  home  by  calling  for  some 
dinner. 

I  spent  First  Day  here  very  pleasantly.  Monday  morning  I  was 
introduced  to  Dr.  Foster  Hooper  of  Fall  River,  and  spent  an  hour 
or  two  with  him.  Then  I  took  the  stage  for  New  Bedford,  with  the 
expectation  of  leaving  there  the  succeeding  day  in  the  steamer 
"  Marco  Bozzaris,"  now  plying  between  Nantucket  and  New  Bedford. 
But,  when  I  had  made  the  journey  through  the  rocks,  briers,  bogs, 
and  fens  of  that  uncultured  country  in  no  very  easy  manner,  I 
discovered  that  the  boat  had  gone  down  the  bay  that  morning, 
and  would  not  return  from  Nantucket  and  sail  again  till  Fifth  Day 
next,  running  only  on  Tuesdays  and  Thursdays.  Therefore,  the 
only  alternative  was  to  wait  with  WilUam  Eddy  until  the  boat's  next 
departure ;  and  I  went  to  his  store,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  with  perhaps  the  most  weighty  character  in  New  Bedford. 
It  was  the  hero  of  Padanaram.  He  was  sitting  on  the  counter  in 
a  profusion  of  perspiration,  and  looking  as  if  he  were  just  ready  to 
adopt  the  words  of  Shakespeare,  and  exclaim, 

Oh,  that  this  too,  too  solid  flesh  would  melt ! 


32  FALL    RIVER    AND    NANTUCKET 

I  called  on  a  New  Bedford  painter,  and  heard  of  another  artist  now 
there, —  a  young  lady,  who  bears  the  romantic  names  of  "  Marietta 
Tintoretta  Catharine  Francesca  Thompson."  Another  call  was  at 
the  infant  school,  which,  in  the  number  and  proficiency  of  its 
pupils,  the  capability  of  its  instructress,  the  size  of  the  building, 
or  the  arrangement  of  apparatus,  is  the  most  perfect  thing  of  the 
kind  that  I  have  seen.  Here,  again.  Friends  are  in  the  absurd 
practice  of  keeping  their  children  away  from  such  schools,  merely 
because  they  are  copying  from  everything  which  is  going  on  in  the 
universe  (even  from  Nature  herself)  by  means  of  uniting  their  voices 
in  an  audible  harmony. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  then,  I  left  New  Bedford  on  the  good  boat 
"  Marco  Bozzaris,"  *  Captain  Barker,  bound  for  Nantucket.  With 
this  marine  road  you  are  acquainted,  so  I  need  not  speak  of  the 
Black  Rock,  the  beauty  of  the  Elizabeth  Islands,  the  legend  of 
Naushawn,  the  rocks  and  ledges  of  Wood's  Hole,  the  portentous 
breakers  on  Tuckanuck  shoal,  and  the  other  wonders  of  the  great 
deep.  Our  boat  was  named  not  so  much  in  immediate  honor  of  the 
Suliote  captain  as  in  acknowledgment  of  the  worth  of  Halleck's 
poem,  with  its  speaking  numbers.  We  sped  over  the  billows  at  the 
rate  of  ten  knots  per  hour,  and  enjoyed  ourselves,  notwithstanding 
the  rain.  Saturday,  the  15th,  I  rode  with  Timothy  Hussey  to  the 
city  of  Siasconset,  where  I  examined  a  fine  collection  of  shells,  the 
property  of  Mrs.  Elkins,  the  landlady  of  one  of  the  hotels.  I  have 
since  walked  to  the  south  shore,  and  ridden  with  Dr.  Swift  to  the 
western  part  of  the  island.  One  evening  I  was  with  Lieutenant  Pres- 
cott,  a  scientific  young  man,  sent  by  the  government  to  excavate  a 
channel  through  the  bar,  in  order  to  admit  large  vessels  to  the 
wharves. 

At  this  time,  and  for  twenty  years  more,  Nantucket  and  New 
Bedford  were  the  chief  whaling  ports  of  the  world ;  and  the 
business  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  Quakers.  In  1830,  Nan- 
tucket had  7,200  inhabitants,  and  New  Bedford  7,500  ;  while 
Worcester  had  less  than  4,200,  and  Fall  River  4,158.     Leices- 

*The  Greek  chieftain,  Bozzaris,  killed  seven  years  before  at  Karpenisi,  near  Missolonghi,  had 
been  celebrated  in  verse  by  Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  and  the  poem  beginning, 

At  midnight,  in  his  guarded  tent, 
was  for  years  the   most  popular  American    "piece,"   recited   and  spoken,  in   schools  and  parlors, 
a  thousand  times  every  year.      It  is  not  yet  quite  forgotten.     The  German  poem  on  Bozzaris  by 
W.  Miiller  was  as  popular  in  Europe. 


1827-1837  33 

ter,  which  now  has  3,300  inhabitants,  then  numbered  less  than 
1800;  and  all  Massachusetts  had  but  few  more  than  Boston  has 
now.  Providence,  in  1830,  had  16,832  people,  but  was  then,  as 
now,  the  second  city  in  New  England.     Dr.  Earle  goes  on  :  — 

Captain  Arthur  has  recently  arrived  from  the  Pacific,  bringing  the 
largest  cargo  of  oil  ever  landed  in  this  country.  He  also  brought  a 
remarkable  stone.  In  appearance  it  resembles  granite  ;  but  is  very 
slightly  put  together,  and  will  readily  float  on  the  water.  It  was 
picked  up  by  Captain  Arthur's  men  in  the  Pacific,  west  of  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  April  22,  1828  ;  was  thinly  covered  with  sea-weed  and 
shell-fish,  and  bore  every  appearance  of  having  been  a  long  time 
afloat.  In  size  it  is  3  ft.  2  1-2  inches  long,  18  1-2  inches  wide,  and  5  1-2 
inches  thick.  Its  weight  is  133  pounds.  I  succeeded  in  obtaining 
a  small  piece  of  it.  Firmly  pinched  between  the  thumb  and  finger 
it  will  crumble  into  particles,  and  some  of  them,  about  the  size  of 
coarse  sand,  will  scratch  glass,  as  can  be  seen  by  rubbing  the  thumb, 
covered  with  these  particles,  heavily  over  a  pane  of  window  glass. 

May  22,  1830. —  I  spent  this  evening  in  the  Nantucket  Museum, 
examining  the  implements  and  curiosities  there  collected  from  all 
quarters  of  the  globe.  Lieutenant  Pinkham  of  our  navy,  recently  re- 
turned from  a  Mediterranean  cruise,  employed  an  artist,  while  in  the 
ports  of  Greece  and  Italy,  to  take  sketches  of  different  people,  in 
order  to  preserve  their  various  costumes  and  characteristics.  Among 
them  is  one  of  the  Greek  admiral  Canaris,*  which  the  lieutenant 
avouches  to  be  an  extremely  accurate  likeness.  But  what  a  likeness  ! 
At  first  view  it  would  sooner  be  recognized  as  a  Mahdi  of  Africa  than 
a  commodore  of  Grecia ;  but  examine  it  closely,  and  that  unbending 
spirit  of  heroic  valor  for  which  he  is  celebrated  is  easily  discovered 

*  Constantine  Kanaris,  born  at  the  island  of  Ipsara,  in  1790,  was  the  latest  sundvor  and  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  four  brilliant  naval  commanders  of  the  island-Greek  sailors  in  the  Revolution, — 
the  others  being  Miaulis  (Andrea  Vocos),  Sakturis,  and  Tombazis.  He  was  at  first  a  captain  under 
Miaulis  (of  whom  there  is  an  admirable  account  in  the  "Narrative  of  a  Greek  Soldier,"  by  Petros 
Mengous,  New  York,  1830J,  afterwards  a  fleet  commodore,  and  finally  admiral.  He  long  survived  the 
war,  was  active  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Bavarian  King  of  Greece,  Otho,  and  was  one  of  the  deputation 
sent  to  imate  the  present  King  George  to  the  throne  in  1864.  He  died  in  1S77,  at  a  great  age.  Dr. 
Howe  had  served  under  him  in  the  Greek  fleet,  as  well  as  under  Miaulis.  They  both  took  much 
notice  of  the  young  American  surgeon,  who  had  been  a  land-soldier  of  the  Greek  army  before  going 
in  the  fleet.  In  his  "  History  of  the  Greek  Revolution"  (now  a  rare  book)  Dr.  Howe  says  little  of 
Kanaris,  but  much  of  Miaulis,  who  was  the  older  captain.  The  dress  of  Kanaris,  above  described, 
•was  that  of  the  Greek  islanders  in  actual  service.  On  shore  they  wore  much  more  gorgeous  raiment, 
though  they  often  went  barefoot.  An  Italian  sea  captain,  who  lost  a  sailor,  and  wished  to  ship  a 
Greek  in  his  place,  was  told  to  go  ashore  at  Hydra  and  find  one.  He  did  so,  but  came  back,  after 
seeing  the  stately  Hydriotes  stalking  about,  and  said,  "  I  saw  no  sailors,— nothing  but  captains." 


34  FALL    RIVER    AND    NANTUCKET 

in  his  countenance  and  the  lofty  pose  of  his  head.  His  dress  is 
simply  a  plain  green  coat  and  vest  without  collar, —  no  appearance 
of  a  shirt, —  but  a  black  handkerchief  is  carelessly  tied  around  his 
neck,  between  which  and  the  top  of  the  coat  the  skin  is  visible. 
Upon  his  head  is  a  cap  which  bears  more  resemblance  to  that 
applied  by  the  hangman  than  that  of  a  military  officer. 


Providence  and  its  People  in   1830-31. 

The  two  chief  educational  establishments  of  Providence, 
when  Pliny  Earle  went  there  as  a  pupil  in  1826,  were  the 
Friends'  School,  which  was  removed  to  that  city  in  18 19,  and 
Brown  University,  founded  in  1764,  but  very  small  and  unim- 
portant for  the  first  half-century  of  its  existence.  Though 
controlled  by  the  "denomination  called  Baptists  or  anti-Paedo- 
baptists,"  as  its  charter  described  the  then  dominant  sect  in 
Rhode  Island,  the  same  charter  provided  that  five  of  its  thirty- 
two  trustees  should  always  be  Quakers,  in  recognition  of  their 
importance  in  the  little  State,  and  of  the  wealth  some  of  them 
had  bequeathed.  Eminent  men,  like  Horace  Mann,  the  educa- 
tional reformer  of  Massachusetts,  and  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Howe, 
the  chief  philanthropist  of  a  philanthropic  age,  had  graduated 
there  before  Dr.  Francis  Wayland  became  its  president,  in 
1827,  and  proceeded  to  reform  its  discipline  and  elevate  its 
scholarship.  One  of  his  first  steps  was  to  remove  the  free  ale- 
barrel,  kept  in  one  of  the  cellars,  to  which  all  undergraduates 
had  access, —  a  form  of  "  local  option  "  not  unusual  before  the 
temperance  reformation  of  Dr.  Wayland's  period.  The  uni- 
versity in  1825,  when  Sarah  Earle  wasanactive  teacher  in  the 
Friends'  School,  was  often  contrasted  with  the  latter  ;  and  in 
one  point,  which  bore  witness  to  the  diligence  of  her  sex,  Sarah 
Earle  delighted  to  find  her  school  preferred  by  visitors.  From 
a  lively  letter  to  her  sister  Lucy,  in  August,  1825,  I  take  this 
anecdote : — 

We  have  had  a  good  many  visitors  this  summer,  and  in  the  last 
three  days  have  had  ladies  from  Montreal,  New  York,  Virginia, 
and  Washington,  gentlemen  from   some  of   those  places,  Judge  C- 


1827-1837  35 

from  Maine,  a  young  man  from  New  Orleans,  etc.  These  visitors 
are  all  to  be  conducted  from  the  kitchen  to  the  observatory,  their 
remarks  heard  and  their  many  questions  answered.  They  generally 
appear  well  pleased,  and  pay  us  many  compliments,  particularly  for 
our  cleanliness.  One  man  told  the  company  that  they  saw  here  the 
effects  of  the  best  administration  in  the  world, —  a  female  administra- 
tion. Then,  turning  to  me,  he  said,  "  We  have  been  over  the  other 
college,  Brown  University,  where  they  have  a  male  administration." 
Instantly  I  replied,  "  A  mal-administration  ? "  and,  though  I  had 
not  a  thought  of  being  very  witty,  they  almost  shouted  their  ap- 
plause, so  that  I  felt  quite  ashamed  of  myself,  I  did  not  admire  the 
Virginian,  she  was  very  inquisitive  and  somewhat  sneering ;  but  the 
Canadian  who  was  with  her  was  an  interesting  creature.  She  said 
her  education  was  in  a  nunnery,  and  this  school  seemed  to  her  some- 
thing like  one.  .  .  .  There  is  a  Sicilian  in  town  about  to  establish 
himself  as  a  teacher  of  Italian,  and  I  wish  either  to  attend  myself  or 
to  have  Eliza  come  and  learn  it.  He  has  called  at  the  Friends' 
School  several  times.  He  comes  highly  recommended  both  from  Italy 
and  Salem,  where  he  has  been  teaching  this  year  past.  He  is  a 
gentleman.  His  estates  were  confiscated  and  he  imprisoned  on  ac- 
count of  political  difficulties,  and  he  finally  left  the  country  to  save 
his  life. 

At  this  time  Moses  Brown,  for  whose  family  the  university 
was  named,  was  still  living  in  Providence,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
seven  ;  and  he  lived  on  for  six  or  seven  years  longer,  for  in 
August,  1 83 1,  Sarah  Earle,  then  newly  married,  writes  thus  :  — 

Last  Seventh  Day,  after  sunset,  Moses  Brown  had  his  carriage 
brought  for  the  express  purpose  of  coming  to  see  me, —  came  and 
made  his  call,  apologizing  for  not  coming  sooner,  and  returned 
home.  Such  a  call  from  such  a  man,  at  the  age  of  ninety-three,  is 
not  to  be  despised.  The  next  Monday  morning  I  took  Benjamin 
Clark  to  see  Moses  Brown.  We  found  him  not  very  well  and  not 
quite  so  animated  as  usual,  but  mild,  affable,  and  interesting.  Ben- 
jamin said  that  visit  crowned  the  whole,  that  would  be  something 
to  treasure  up  and  reflect  upon. 

At  that  time  the  university  can  have  had  scarcely  more 
students  than  the  Friends  had  pupils  in   their  coeducational 


36  PROVIDENCE    AND    ITS    SCHOOLS 

school ;  for  they  were  wise  enough  to  admit  both  girls  and  boys 
to  the  higher  education,  while  the  university  excluded  all  girls 
until  long  after  President  Wayland's  time.  In  the  society  of 
Providence  the  Quaker  teachers  and  the  college  professors  met 
on  equal  terms.  And,  when  Pliny  Earle  went  to  New  Haven 
on  his  way  to  Philadelphia,  he  carried  letters  of  introduction  to 
the  Yale  professors  from  his  friends,  the  Brown  professors.  He 
thus  wrote  in  1830-31  :  — 

Nov.  25,  1830. —  I  am  much  pleased  with  my  boarding-house; 
have  a  room  and  fire  to  myself,  where  I  keep  bachelor's  hall  as  com- 
fortably as  need  be.  There  are  but  nine  regular  boarders  at  present, 
among  whom  are  Professor  Elton,  of  Brown  University,  and  J. 
Kingsbury.  The  professor  is  one  of  the  finest  men  I  have  ever 
known.  He  is  very  learned,  both  in  science  and  general  knowledge, 
and  also  very  sociable.*  He  has  been  a  traveller,  too  :  has  stood  on 
the  Alps,  if  not  on  the  Apennines ;  traversed  the  Highlands  of  Scot- 
land and  the  Lowlands  of  Holland ;  has  been  a  resident  of  Edin- 
burgh, London,  Paris,  and  Rome ;  is  acquainted  with  Sir  Walter 
Scott  and  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany ;  has  examined  the  ruins  of 
Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  burned  his  fingers  and  toes  within  the 
crater  of  Vesuvius,  and,  "  furzino,"  is  acquainted  with  the  father  of 
Amelia  Pottingen,  for  he  spent  some  time 

At  the  U- 
niversity  of  Goettingen, 

mentioned  by  Canning  in  the  Anti-Jacobm.  .  .  .  Some  excitement 
prevailed  in  Providence  last  week  in  consequence  of  Daniel  Web- 
ster's presence  in  court  here.  The  court-room  was  literally  over- 
whelmed with  ladies  and  gentlemen  during  the  day  when  he  spoke. 
John  Whipple  occupied  the  forenoon  with  his  argument,  and  the 
company  waited  with  a  pretty  good  grace  until  he  concluded.  Then 
Webster  rose,  and  a  hush  came  over  the  audience  as  if  the  voice  of 

•This  word  "  sociable,"  a  characteristic  New  England  expression,  is  often  used  by  Dr.  Earle,  who 
long  retained  some  of  the  dialectic  peculiarities  of  rural  New  England.  It  signifies  "affable,"  ready 
to  meet  others  in  social  intercourse, —  a  trait  which  distinguished  the  doctor  at  all  times,  except  when 
the  peculiar  melancholy,  to  be  mentioned  hereafter,  came  upon  him.  The  odd  phrase  "furzino,"  just 
after,  is  the  dialectic  Yankee  for  "  so  far  as  I  know,"  but  really  means,  "  I  suspect,  though  you  might 
not  think  it,"  with  a  slight  shade  of  quiz  or  sarcasm,  as  in  this  instance.  The  verse  quoted  is  from 
Canning's  soliloquy  of  the  suicidal  German  student  who  had  loved  "sweet,  sweet  Amelia  Pottingen," 
a  name  which  the  English  then  fancied  to  rhyme  with  "  Goettingen." 


1S27-1837  37 

a  spirit  had  stilled  them.     He  spoke  for  nearly  four  hours,  and  I 
heard  him  for  an  hour ;  but  it  was  not  a  case  upon  which  he  could 

show  all  his  talents. 

This  was  the  period  when  Webster*  stood  at  his  highest 
point  as  a  forensic  orator.  He  had  made  his  magnificent  reply- 
to  Hayne  of  Carolina  in  the  January  preceding,  and  his  splen- 
did description  of  crime  and  remorse  in  his  argument  in  the 
Salem  murder  case,  in  the  early  autumn ;  and,  just  before  com- 
ing to  Providence  to  argue  against  Whipple,  the  leader  of  the 
bar  there,  he  had  made  a  great  tariff  speech  in  Boston  (Oct. 
30  and  31,  1830),  which  extended  over  two  evenings  and 
nearly  five  hours.  His  earlier  orations  had  made  him  widely 
known,  particularly  that  on  Adams  and  Jefferson  in  1826,  and 
the  Plymouth  oration  of  1820,  in  which  he  had  attacked  Bristol, 
in  Rhode  Island,  as  the  seat  of  the  New  England  slave-trade, 
then  carried  on  by  the  De  Wolf  family.  Of  that  town  Webster 
had  said  :  — 

Let  that  spot  be  purified,  or  let  it  cease  to  be  New  England  !  Let 
it  be  purified,  or  let  it  be  set  aside  from  the  Christian  world !  Let 
it  be  put  out  of  the  circle  of  human  sympathies  and  human  regards, 
and  let  civilized  man  henceforth  have  no  communion  with  it ! 

Not  yet  had  the  great  orator  separated  himself  from  "the 
circle  of  human  sympathies,"  and  his  appeal  for  generosity 
towards  the  struggling  Greeks  had  commended  him  anew  to  the 
growing  spirit  of  philanthropy.  Nor  had  he  identified  himself, 
as  he  did  a  few  years  later,  with  the  money  power  of  the 
country,  and  accepted  fees  and  favors  from  bankers. 

Decetiiber  5 . —  After  making  six  calls  last  evening  after  tea,  I 
spent  the  remainder  of  the  evening  at  Uncle  Samuel  Shove's,  where 

*  Daniel  Webster,  bom  in  New  Hampshire  in  17S2,  died  at  Marshiield,  in  Massachusetts,  in 
1852,  ■w'as,  like  Dr.  Earle's  friend  in  Paris  some  few  years  later,  General  Lewis  Cass,  the  son  of  a  Revo- 
lutionary captain,  and  educated  under  Dr.  Abbott  at  the  Exeter  Academy.  While  Cass  entered  the 
army  and  distinguished  himself  in  the  War  of  1S12,  and  afterwards  as  Governor  of  Michigan,  Webster 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  1801,  and  began  practising  law  in  his  native  State,  which  he  repre- 
sented in  Congress  in  i Si 2-1 7.  There  he  made  himself  known  as  an  orator,  but  also  as  a  bitter  oppo- 
nent of  President  Madison  and  his  administration.  He  also  won  great  distinction  by  his  appeal  in 
behalf  of  Dartmouth  College  in  iSiS,  leading  (with  the  efforts  made  by  himself  and  others  in  the 
court  vacation)  to  the  famous  decision  in  the  Dartmouth  case.  In  iSjo  he  was  not  only  the  leader  of 
the  Massachusetts  and  Xew  England  bar,  but  a  conspicuous  Presidential  candidate. 


38  PROVIDENCE    IN     1 83 1 

I  met  a  host  of  cousins.  There  were  seven  of  us,  all  cousin  to  one 
another,  and  of  six  different  families.  For  myself,  that  period  is 
approaching  (my  twenty-first  birthday)  towards  which  the  untried, 
enthusiastic  heart  of  boyhood  has  looked  with  an  impatient  anticipa- 
tion,—  as  a  landmark  beyond  which  all  will  be  enjoyment,  because  I 
should  then  be  free  to  act  for  myself.  But  how  differently  does  the 
mind  of  maturer  years  regard  that  date  !  I  am  now  to  go  forth  and 
wrestle  with  a  wrangling  world  alone.  I  am  nearing  the  imaginary 
artificial  line  which  separates  the  boy  from  the  man,  and  a  mistaken 
idea  of  thraldom  from  fancied  liberty.  To  me  there  is  no  promise 
of  greater  freedom  than  I  have  felt  for  years,  while  I  have  the  con- 
firmed assurance  that  the  title  to  parental  dependence  is  void.  Had 
I  known  the  direction  which  seems  now  to  be  given  to  my  path  in 
life,  these  past  years  might  have  been  employed,  more  than  they 
were,  in  preparing  myself.  But  even  now  there  is  a  silent,  powerful 
voice  coming  up  from  the  deep  recesses  of  my  heart,  telling  me  it  is 
not  too  late, —  urging  me  onward  to  gather  from  the  broad  fields  of 
knowledge  that  which  will  tend  to  exalt  the  soul  and  carry  it  forward 
towards  that  goal  of  perfection  which  lies  before  us. 

March  19,  1831. —  I  had  the  pleasure  of  dining  the  other  dav, 
at  John  Smith's,  with  John  Bristed,  who  married  a  daughter  of 
J.  J.  Astor  of  New  York,  studied  divinity  at  the  age  of  (nearly)  fifty 
with  Bishop  Griswold,  and  has  been  for  a  year  or  two  rector  of  an 
Episcopal  church  at  Bristol.  He  is  a  jolly  Englishman,  educated  at 
the  old  college  of  Winchester,  in  Hampshire,  who  studied  law 
in  London,  practised  it  in  New  York,  and  is  now  a  clergyman  not 
far  from  Providence,  as  well  as  an  author.  But  his  volumes,*  ac- 
cording to  Halleck  ("Resources  of  the  United  States,"  etc.),  are 
"  dear  at  half-price."  We  spoke  of  a  satirical  poem  lately  published 
in  Boston,  entitled  "Truth;  or,  A  New  Year's  Gift  for  Scribblers," 
full  to  overflowing  with  sarcastic  venom  against  the  American  poets 
of  the  present  day.  Its  author  doubtless  took  Byron's  "  English 
Bards  and  Scotch  Reviewers  "  as  his  prototype,  but  has  come  far 
short  of  that. 

May^  183 1. —  I  have  recommenced  botany,  with  the  opening  of  the 
season  for  rambles  and  researches.  We  are  to  form  a  class  as  soon 
as  we  can  procure  books  enough ;  and,  by  thus  awakening  an  inter- 
est in  the  study,  we  shall  soon  have  all  the  flowers  of  the  neighbor- 

•One  of  these,  "Hints  on  the  National  Bankruptcy  of  Britain  in  the  Present  Contest  with 
France"  (New  York,  1809),  was  given  by  Bristed  to  Couverneur  Morris. 


1827-1837  39 

hood  brought  in.  Just  now  we  are  full  of  stenography.  A  young 
Englishman  (about  my  age)  professes  the  art  in  town,  and  "we 
teachers  "  are  taking  lessons  of  him.  Our  Yearly  Meeting  must  look 
out  now  !     Just  take  a  specimen  (to  his  sister  Eliza  at  Leicester) :  — 

Here  follow  the  twelve  lines  with  which  Campbell's  "Pleas- 
ures of  Hope"  commences,  in  a  shorthand  that  phonography 
has  antiquated. 

We  have  been  agreeably  disappointed  in  tinding  it  much  easier 
than  we  anticipated.  I  have  devoted  my  leisure  moments  to  it  for 
eight  days,  and  can  now  write  it  faster  than  longhand,  at  my  greatest 
speed. 

Thus  in  early  manhood  we  find  him  interested  in  poetry  and 
poetic  science,  for  such  was  botany  then. 

Pliny  Earle  had  been  preceded  as  a  teacher  in  the  Provi- 
dence school  by  his  sister  Sarah,  nine  years  older  than  himself ; 
but,  while  he  was  teaching  at  Fall  River  and  Providence  or 
studying  medicine  at  the  latter  place,  Sarah  Earle  had  returned 
to  Leicester  (May  15,  1827),  and  opened  there  her  Mulberry 
Grove  boarding-school  for  girls,  which  she  gave  over  to  her 
sister  Eliza,  at  her  own  marriage  with  Charles  Hadwen,  of 
Providence,  in  August,  1831.  Three  years  later,  in  July  and 
August,  1834,  a  few  months  before  her  death,  she  took  a  jour- 
ney with  her  husband  from  Worcester  to  Lowell,  Lynn, 
Boston,  and  Providence,  which  she  described  in  a  letter  to 
Eliza ;  and  this  description  may  serve  to  show  how  travel  was 
managed  before  railroads  were  common.     She  says  :  — 

Our  journey  lasted  five  days,  Friday,  Saturdaj-,  Sunday,  ^Monday, 
and  Tuesday,  the  last  of  July.  Friday  we  left  Worcester,  and  had 
much  ado  to  drag  through  and  arrive  at  Lowell  in  our  chaise  just  at 
dusk.  [The  trip  is  now  made  in  three  or  four  hours. —  forty-five 
miles, —  and  might  be  in  two  hours.]  Strangers  as  we  were,  we 
feared  it  might  take  some  time  to  find  our  place  of  destination 
[George  Brownell's].  Several  avenues  to  the  town  [of  fourteen  thou- 
sand people]  and  two  or  three  bridges  were  presented  to  our  view ; 
and,  having  not  the  least  clew,  we  so  far  left  ourselves  to  the  guid- 
ance of  chance  as  to  follow  a  carriage  over  one  of   the  bridges. 


40  TRAVELLING    IN    I 834 

Coming  immediately  upon  a  house  which  did  not  appear  to  be  really 
in  town,  we  halted;  and  Charles  asked  a  man,  who  was  just  entering 
the  door,  where  G.  Brownell  lived.  "  He  lives  here,"  was  the  reply ; 
and  then  I  perceived  that  he  was  the  man.  This  may  seem  nothing 
wonderful ;  but  it  struck  me  at  the  time  as  so  remarkable,  and  at 
the  same  time  so  joyful,  that  I  thought  much  of  it.  The  next  morn- 
ing (Saturday),  which  was  one  of  our  hottest,  we  went  out  with 
George ;  and,  while  the  men  were  viewing  the  town,  I  stopped  at 
Dr.  Elisha  Bartlett's  [he  was  the  first  mayor  of  Lowell,  and  a  cousin 
of  the  Earles],  where  I  spent  about  three  hours  very  pleasantly,  and 
engaged  to  take  tea  with  them.  We  had  intended  to  go  to  South 
Reading  [now  Wakefield]  that  night,  and  to  Lynn  the  next  (Sunday) 
morning ;  but  the  heat  and  a  shower  prevented.  We  visited  at 
Elisha's;  and  the  next  morning  set  off  for  Reading,  which  we 
reached  just  as  people  were  going  to  meeting.  We  stopped  at  a 
public  house,  and,  upon  inquiring  for  John  Clapp,  were  told  that  his 
carriage  was  just  coming ;  and  the  man  kindly  offered  to  go  and  tell 
them  we  were  there.  He  did  so,  and  John  came  over  and  engaged 
us  to  go  home  with  them  after  the  meeting.  We  rested  and  refitted, 
and  rode  home  with  them,  about  two  miles.  Susan  Flint  was  there, 
employed  as  organist  in  a  small  church  at  South  Reading.*  The 
family  attend  a  small  meeting  at  Reading,  being  the  only  one  of  the 
right  kind  very  near.  Their  officiating  minister,  a  son  f  of  Thayer  of 
Lancaster,  came  home  with  them  in  the  afternoon,  and  took  tea. 
When  I  observed  the  freedom  of  their  conversation,  I  felt  less  like 
an  intruder  on  that  day  of  the  week  than  I  feared.  Still,  we  felt 
ourselves  on  every  account  one  day  behindhand.  Had  we  gone  on 
Fifth  Day  [Thursday,  July  24,  from  Worcester],  we  should  have  had 
a  fine  cool  day,  and  should  have  been  in  Lynn  on  First  Day  [Sun- 
day, July  27],  which  was  very  desirable.  I  do  not  recollect  that  I 
ever  spent  a  First  Day  out  from  amongst  my  own  people  [the 
Quakers]  before;  and  I  have  no  desire  to  again. |  Still,  we  had  an 
excellent  visit,  were  received  and  entertained  with  all  the  wonted 
hospitality  of  our  kind  host  and  hostess. 

*  This  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Flint,  of  Northampton,  aunt  of  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  of  New  York,  and 
niece  of  the  Sedgwicks,  of  Lenox.     South  Reading  is  now  Wakefield. 

t  Dr.  Thayer,  of  Lancaster,  was  the  father  of  the  wealthy  brothers,  Nathaniel  and  John  E. 
Thayer,  of  Boston,  himself  a  classmate  and  intimate  friend  of  Rev.  W.  Emerson,  father  of  R.  W. 
Emerson.  Rev.  Dr.  Thayer  died  in  1840.  His  son,  Rev.  Christopher  Thayer,  here  mentioned  as 
preaching  in  a  Unitarian  parish  at  Reading,  died  in  iSSo. 

t  The  secluded  character  of  the  Quaker  families  in  their  religious  life  is  seen  by  Mrs.  Hadwen's 
remarks  about  spending  Sunday  an^fwhere  but  among  Quakers. 


1827-1837  41 

Second  Day  morning  we  rode  eight  miles  to  Lynn,  called  at  Avis 
Keene's,  as  we  supposed,  but  found  it  was  Josiah  Keene's,  he  having 
recently  returned.  We  would  have  spent  the  day  there  [Lynn],  as 
there  were  many  we  wished  to  see ;  but  of  all  times  in  the  week  to 
be  calling  on  people  in  such  a  place  as  that !  [It  was  washing-day  ; 
and  Lynn  being  then  a  place  of  but  seven  thousand  people,  mostly 
engaged  in  shoemaking,  the  families  were  not  expecting  visitors  on 
Mondays.]  So,  having  dined,  and  having  a  good  day,  we  proceeded 
to  Charlestown,  and  visited  the  State's  prison,  with  which  we  were 
much  pleased,  and  left  it  with  the  conviction  that,  if  we  had  a 
friend  or  relative  worthy  of  the  place,  we  should  rejoice  at  his  being 
there.  The  cleanliness  and  comfort  of  the  apartments  were  admi- 
rable, as  well  as  the  convenience  of  all  their  arrangements.  We  then 
passed  through  Cambridgeport  to  Brighton,*  Charles  having  a  great 
desire  to  view  the  cattle  market  there.  We  also  had  Mount  Auburn 
in  view,  and  regretted  to  learn  that  we  had  missed  the  right  turn, 
which  was  to  have  taken  it  on  our  way.  As  we  were  going  to  Boston, 
it  would  now  be  quite  out  of  our  way.     So  we  gave  it  up. 

We  passed  over  the  Mill-dam  just  in  season  to  take  a  turn  to  the 
railroad,  and  witness  the  animating  spectacle  of  the  passage  of  the 
cars.  Imagine  a  black  giant  seizing  by  force  three  or  four  huge 
coaches  filled  with  passengers,  and  carrying  them  off  at  the  top  of 
his  speed,  hissing  and  bidding  defiance  to  all  opposition !  And, 
before  you  have  time  to  ask  him  what  he  means,  he  is  gone  !  We 
stood  and  laughed  like  true  Jonathan  Doolittles,  then  entered  the 
city,  and  passed  the  night  with  our  friend  Holden  and  her  daughter, 
Charlotte  Lander,  who  is  a  widow. 

In  the  morning  (July  29)  we  set  off  for  home,  which  we  reached 
without  much  incident  at  night,  just  in  season  for  the  meeting  the 
next  day.  We  have  now  been  at  home  a  week,  one  day  monthly 
meeting,  and  two  days  committee  at  the  school.  Rebecca  Buffum 
dined  with  us  on  First  Day,  and  returned  home  yesterday  afternoon 
with  a  member  of  the  committee.  Fall  River  folks  will  think  cer- 
tain now.t     Dr.  Tobey  says  it  is  highly  important  for  mother  to  live 

*  The  Brighton  cattle  market  was  then  the  largest  in  New  England,  the  rural  parts  of  which  in 
1834  furnished  100,000  sheep  and  more  than  75,000  cattle  and  hogs  for  slaughter  there. 

t  This  cousin  of  Dr.  Earle  was  the  daughter  of  Arnold  Buffum,  who  soon  after  married  Marcus 
Spring,  and  long  lived  in  New  York ;  afterward  in  a  sort  of  community  at  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J.,  where 
Thoreau  visited  in  1856,  and  surveyed  the  estate  of  "  Eagleswood,"  largely  the  property  of  Mr.  Spring. 
Mrs.  Spring  is  still  living  in  California.  Her  older  sister,  Mrs.  Chace,  of  Valley  Falls,  R.I.,  is  also 
living,  upward  of  ninety.  The  physical  vigor  of  the  Earles  of  this  branch  seems  to  have  come  from 
the  Buffums. 


42  TRAVELLING    IN     1832-34 

on  the  Graham  system ;  but,  as  her  disease  has  become  chronic,  this 
will  not  probably  be  sufficient  of  itself  to  effect  a  cure.  She  must 
therefore,  whenever  attacked,  use  sweet  oil  copiously.  He  says  every 
time  she  takes  cicuta  she  undermines  still  more  her  constitution.  It 
is  strange,  when  it  has  been  so  strongly  urged,  that  she  should  neg- 
lect so  simple  a  remedy. 

The  railroad,  which  the  Earles  had  never  seen  before,  was 
that  from  Boston  to  Worcester,  which  was  running  trains  of 
English  coaches  for  short  distances  in  1834,  though  not  opened 
to  Worcester  till  1835.  The  Mill-dam,  of  course,  was  that 
avenue,  then  a  turnpike,  which  runs  westward  from  Boston 
over  the  old  dam  which  retained  the  tide-waters  for  the  tide-mill, 
near  Beacon  Street.  The  trip  of  five  days,  here  chronicled, 
could  now  be  performed,  if  haste  were  requisite,  in  one,  and 
with  all  the  visits  named,  in  two  days.  The  remark  about  the 
regimen  for  Mrs.  Earle  shows  that  the  use  of  coarse  wheaten 
meal  instead  of  fine  flour,  introduced  by  Dr.  Sylvester  Graham, 
was  well  known  in  1834.  Though  a  chronic  invalid  then,  the 
mother  lived  fifteen  years  longer;  while  the  vigorous  daughter 
died  a  few  weeks  after  this  letter  was  written. 

Short  excursions,  such  as  his  sister  could  make,  and  with 
which  he  had  once  contented  himself,  had  ceased  to  have  much 
attraction  for  young  Pliny,  in  whom,  as  in  his  Roman  name- 
sakes, the  naturalist  and  the  tourist  were  combined.  Taking 
advantage  of  the  temporary  closing  of  the  Friends'  School  in 
the  summer  of  1832,  he  took  a  companion  August  5,  and  set 
out  for  the  White  Mountains  of  New  Hampshire,  by  way  of 
Portland.     He  writes  :  — 

Trip  to  the  White  Mowitains  [1832]. 

S.  L.  Gummere  *  and  I  left  Providence  last  Seventh  Day  morning, 
at  eight  o'clock,  for  Boston,  and  arrived  after  a  pleasant  ride  of 
about  seven  hours.  Our  stop  there  was  short,  as  the  boat  in  which 
we  were  to  take  passage  left  for  Portland,  Me.,  at  4  p.m.  At  3.30 
we  were  on  board  the  good  steam-packet  "Connecticut";  and  at  4 
we  left  the  wharf  with  one  hundred  and  seventy-five   passengers,   all 

*Gum-me-re. 


1827-1837  43 

bound  for  Portland.  It  was  a  delightful  afternoon  ;  and  our  prospect, 
as  we  sailed  out  of  Boston  Harbor  and  along  the  northern  coast,  was 
very  fine.  The  sun  shone  clear  upon  the  scarcely  ruffled  ocean  ;  and 
the  broad  expanse  of  deep  blue  water,  studded  in  all  directions  with 
verdant  islands,  afforded  as  beautiful  a  (water)  landscape  as  I  have 
ever  seen.  We  passed  in  sight  of  Lynn,  Nahant,  Salem,  Marble- 
head,  and  Cape  Ann  in  rapid  succession.  The  Nahant  Hotel  ap- 
peared really  like  an  old  acquaintance,  thanks  to  S.  B.  Stiles  for 
an  introduction  to  it.  As  we  passed  Cape  Ann,  the  evening  closed 
upon  us,  and  the  sky,  which  had  been  so  cloudless,  became  overcast 
with  light  vapors ;  but  there  was  a  fine  moon  behind  the  clouds,  and 
this,  together  with  a  balmy  summer  air,  made  a  seat  on  deck  desir- 
able. The  distance  to  Portland  from  Boston  is  one  hundred  and  ten 
or  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles.  We  were  to  be  out  all  night,  and 
for  our  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  passengers  there  were  but  fifty 
or  sixty  berths.  Fatigued  with  our  ride  from  Providence,  we  wanted 
sleep.  The  thing  was  where  to  get  it.  At  8.30  we  found  a  mattress 
in  the  after-cabin,  carried  it  up  the  stairs  at  the  stern  of  the  vessel, 
and  took  a  refreshing  nap  on  it  directly  before  the  cabin  windows. 
At  ten  I  rose,  and  walked  the  deck,  where  I  was  particularly  inter- 
ested in  the  man  at  the  helm.  He  was  a  negro,  six  feet  two, 
as  I  judged,  and  with  a  most  dignified  carriage.  A  single  pas- 
senger, a  seaman,  and  myself  were  the  only  persons  on  deck  be- 
sides. We  all  entered  into  conversation  ;  and,  as  I  asked,  "What  time 
shall  we  arrive  at  Portland?"  the  passenger  replied,  "At  8  a.m." 
Upon  this  the  giant  negro,  projecting  his  head  forward  to  observe 
the  light  ahead,  said  very  moderately,  "  I-beg-your-pardon-sir." 
That  was  all  he  said ;  but  to  me  his  words  had  a  farther  signifi- 
cation. In  a  moment  it  flashed  through  my  mind  that  he  had  been  in 
France.  I  questioned  him,  and  found  it  was  so.  He  had  been  a 
great  traveller,  and  had  gleaned  much  information.  His  acquisi- 
tions might  have  graced  a  higher  sphere.  I  went  to  bed  again,  and 
at  5.30  in  the  morning  found  myself  in  Portland.  It  was  First  Day 
morning.  We  breakfasted  at  a  public  house,  and  at  nine  o'clock 
called  upon  Isaiah  Jones  (a  Quaker). 

His  house  is  near  the  centre  of  the  city,  in  the  same  block  with 
N.  Winslow's.  Although  the  parlor  was  unoccupied  when  we  en- 
tered, yet  within  five  minutes  a  sociable  circle  was  formed  around 
us, —  Isaiah,  his  wife  and  child,  N.  and  J.  Winslow,  and  E.  Northey 


44 


THE    WHITE    MOUNTAINS 


and  his  wife.  We  accompanied  them  to  meeting,  having  engaged 
to  return  to  dinner,  and  to  go  to  N.  Winslow's  to  tea.  After  meet- 
ing we  were  introduced  to  nearly  all  present,  and  soon  engaged  our- 
selves to  breakfast  the  next  day ;  and,  had  we  concluded  to  stay  an- 
other day,  we  should  undoubtedly  have  been  quite  as  itinerant  in  our 
eating  then.  Dined  very  pleasantly,  and  took  tea  equally  so  with 
N.  W.,  and  a  very  sociable  family.  Called  in  the  evening  at  Rufus 
Horton's,  and  at  nine  returned  to  our  lodgings.  The  Winslows  are 
great  admirers  of  the  course  pursued  (about  anti-slavery)  by  Uncle 
A.  Buffum.  The  next  day  we  breakfasted  at  Edward  Cobb's,  where 
we  spent  two  or  three  hours  agreeably.  Dined  with  James  Oliver, 
a  brother  of  the  great  anti-Masonic  Oliver  at  Lynn.  He  married  a 
daughter  of  E.  Cobb,  and  is  cashier  of  a  Portland  bank.  Took  tea 
with  a  large  party  at  Josiah  Dow's,  the  father  of  H.  and  E.  Dow.* 
During  the  day  we  visited  the  Observatory,  Arsenal,  Custom  House, 
Court  House,  Town  Hall,  and  two  schools  ;  walked  through  all  the 
principal  streets,  and  had  an  introduction  to  John  Neal,  with  whom 
we  spent  a  half-hour  of  rapid  conversation.  We  left  Portland  at  five 
o'clock,  and  arrived  at  Conway,  N.H.  (fifty-nine  miles),  in  the  even- 
ing, which  we  left  at  four  the  next  morning,  passing  through  the 
Notch  by  the  valley  of  the  Saco,  past  the  Willey  House,  and  arrived 
at  Ethan  Crawford's  "White  Mountain  House"  (thirty-five  miles)  at 
1,30  P.M.  Mount  Washington,  its  lofty  summit  even  now  enveloped 
in  an  overhanging  cloud,  rests  against  our  sky,  while  the  peaks 
named  in  honor  of  Jefferson,  Adams,  etc.,  stand  at  distances  from 
this  more  noble  compeer,  forming  with  Mount  Pleasant  a  range  of 
mountain  scenery  unequalled  in  the  United  States.  On  Thursday 
morning,  August  9,  a  party  of  nine,  including  two  of  us,  got  horses 
and  a  guide,  and  began  to  ascend  the  mountain. 

In  our  party,  besides  the  guide  (who  had  to  go  on  foot,  because 
we  could  find  but  eight  horses),  were  a  gentleman  from  Charleston, 
S.C,  a  Bowdoin  student,  a  Harvard  student,  a  young  gentleman, 
something  of  a  dandy,  from  Boston,  a  Unitarian  minister  from  New 
Hampshire,  a  Mr.  White,  formerly  of  Worcester,  but  now  on  a  jour- 
ney from  Indiana,  via   Montreal,  to  Massachusetts,  with  myself  and 

*  Probably  also  of  Neal  Dow,  the  temperance  reformer,  who  was  of  Portland,  and  died  in  1897, 
at  the  age  of  ninety.  John  Neal,  another  distinguished  citizen  of  Portland,— poet  and  essayist,— has 
long  been  dead.     He  wrote  the  poem  of  the  "American  Eagle,"  beginning, 

There's  a  fierce  gray  bird  with  a  bending  beak. 
An  angry  eye,  and  a  startling  shriek. 


1827-1837  45 

companion.  It  was  amusing  to  look  at  our  motley  group, —  our 
guide  now  mounted  on  a  pillion, —  as  we  went 

Full  slowly  pacing  o'er  the  stones 
With  caution  and  good  heed, 

now  winding,  Indian  file,  through  narrow  passes,  and  now  fording 
the  crooked  Ammonoosuc  River.  We  had  laid  our  landlord  under 
contribution  for  clothing ;  and  now  before  me  was  seen  our  jolly 
Carolinian,  furnishing  by  his  jokes  amusement  for  us  all,  mounted 
on  a  black  steed,  and  behind  his  saddle  the  sober  guide  in  a  linsey- 
woolsey  roundabout.  Next  went  the  student  from  Bowdoin,  in  a 
huge  woollen  coat  of  Crawford's,  hanging  about  him  like  a  meal-sack 
over  an  iron  bar.  Underneath  that  was  a  waistcoat  of  Crawford's, 
on  the  back  of  which  the  traces  of  a  bear's  paw  were  still  visible,  in 
a  melancholy  rent.  The  story  is  this  :  Ethan,  having  caught  a  bear 
in  one  of  his  traps,  determined  to  carry  him  home  alive.  He  there- 
fore let  him  out  of  the  trap,  swung  him  over  his  shoulder,  and  took 
up  the  line  of  march  homeward.  The  bear  was  rather  pleased  with 
his  ride  for  the  first  mile,  but  after  that  became  uneasy,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  second  mile  determined  on  hostilities.  This  led  Craw- 
ford and  the  bear  (to  use  his  own  words)  "  into  a  squabble,"  during 
which  he  tore  the  vest  quite  unhandsomely.  At  length  the  man  of 
the  woods,  finding  the  resistance  of  his  prisoner  too  unpleasant,  gave 
up  the  idea  of  carrying  him  any  farther  alive,  and  slew  him  on  the 
spot.     Such  is  the  story  which  Crawford  tells. 

To  return  to  our  party :  The  Bowdoiner  was  followed  by  some- 
thing on  a  pale  horse, —  something  that  had  gone  to  the  mountain  in 
the  shape  of  a  Boston  dandy  of  1832  ;  but,  alas  !  what  a  transfigura- 
tion !  Though  the  Ethiopian  cannot  change  his  skin,  nor  the  leop- 
ard his  spots,  yet  the  Boston  dandy  can  lose  himself  under  the 
flabby-brimmed  chapeau  and  the  enormous  manteaii  of  Ethan  Allen 
Crawford.*  This  metempsychosis  was  followed  by  other  figures, 
mostly  clad  in  suits  which  they  had  brought  from  their  homes  pur- 
posely.    However,  I  was  enveloped  in   another  coat  of  mine  host ; 

*  This  was  the  brother  of  Tom  Crawford,  who  long  kept  a  mountain  hotel  at  the  great  Notch,  and 
a  son  of  old  Abel  Crawford,  with  whom,  in  September,  1850,  I  rode  from  the  Willey  House  to  Tom 
Crawford's,  questioning  the  veteran  about  bears  and  other  game.  Twenty  years  earlier  an  adventure 
such  as  Ethan  described  was  not  wholly  improbable,  and  it  may  be  credited.  This  pioneer  family,  of 
Scotch  descent,  who  went  up  to  the  White  Mountains  from  Connecticut,  is  now  entirely  extinct  in  the 
mountain  region;  and  a  railroad  takes  the  visitor  tlirough  the  Notch,  which  had  to  be  widened  a  little 
at  its  western  end,  to  allow  the  trains  to  pass. 


46  MOUNT    WASHINGTON    ASCENDED 

and,  but  for  this,  I  should  now  have  been  without  some  forty  pounds 
of  minerals,  which  I  translated  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Washing- 
ton in  its  capacious  pockets.  Doubly  surrounded  with  this,  which 
was  confined  within  hailing  distance  of  my  body  by  a  bandanna  hand- 
kerchief, and  carrying  weight  in  the  shape  of  a  pair  of  saddle-bags, 
filled  with  bread  and  cheese,  I  plodded  on  with  the  rest.  Six  miles 
over  rocks  and  hills,  among  woods  and  raspberries,  brought  us  to  the 
end  of  equestrian  navigation.  Here  we  left  our  horses,  and  started 
to  perform  the  remaining  three  miles  to  the  summit  on  foot.  Three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  brought  us  to  a  spring,  of  which  the  waters, 
issuing  from  the  side  of  the  mountain,  were  by  far  the  coolest  I  ever 
drank.  From  this  spring  to  the  summit  (two  miles  and  a  quarter)  is 
a  most  wearisome  journey,  the  acclivity  in  some  places  forming  an 
angle  of  not  less  than  forty-five  degrees. 

We  arrived  at  the  summit  about  one  o'clock,  having  been  almost 
four  hours  travelling  three  miles.     But  here,  indeed,  it  seemed  as  if  we 

Looked  from  our  throne  of  clouds  o'er  half  the  world. 

Though  the  day  was  rather  cloudy,  we  were  on  the  mountain  long 
enough  to  witness  all  the  changes  of  scenery.  One  moment  we  were 
wrapped  in  clouds,  and  could  see  but  a  few  rods  ;  the  next  the  cloud 
rolled  away  in  stately  motion  from  the  mountain  side,  and,  floating 
off,  gradually  opened  to  view  the  landscape  below,  where  hills, 
forests,  and  rivers  dwindled  into  insignificance,  stretched  away  and 
away  into  a  hazy  distance  far  as  the  eye  could  pierce.  Snow  was 
lying  still  upon  the  mountains  in  three  spots, —  a  sight  rarely  seen  in 
August,  even  on  these  summits.  We  found  another  spring  as  cold 
as  that  below,  gushing  from  the  rocks  within  a  few  rods  of  the  high- 
est point ;  and  there  we  sat  down  to  eat  and  drink,  with  keen  appe- 
tites,—  all  but  the  minister.  He,  unfortunately,  had  been  bred  so 
daintily  that  he  "  couldn't  eat  bread  and  cheese  from  a  pair  of  saddle- 
bags." As  if  the  delicacies  and  ceremonies  of  the  parsonage  tea-table 
could  not  be  dispensed  with  for  a  few  minutes  on  the  summit  of 
Mount  Washington !  The  rest  of  us  had  no  such  qualms,  and  at  two 
o'clock  we  were  refreshed  and  ready  to  descend.  I  filled,  not  my 
pockets,  but  those  of  Ethan  Crawford,  with  good  specimens  of  mica 
and  quartz,  before  following  the  others  down.  It  took  us  but  half  as 
long  to  descend  as  to  come  up,  and,  after  riding  the  six  miles  back, 
were  glad  to  reach  our  inn  after  an  absence  of  ten  hours  and  a  half. 


1827-1837  47 

Harriet  Martineau,  who  visited  Crawford's  hostelry  a  few 
years  later,  has  left  a  more  lively  description  of  it  and  him. 
She  says  :  "  Ethan  Crawford  cannot  be  said  to  live  in  solitude, 
inasmuch  as  there  is  another  house  in  the  valley  ;  but  it  is  a 
virtual  solitude,  except  for  three  months  in  the  year.  After 
a  supper  of  fine  lake  trout  the  son  of  our  host  played  to  us  on  a 
nameless  instrument,  made  by  the  joiners  who  put  the  house 
together,  and  creditable  to  their  ingenuity.  It  was  something 
like  the  harmonica  in  form  and  the  bagpipes  in  tone  ;  but,  well 
played  as  it  was  by  the  boy,  it  was  highly  agreeable.  Then 
Mr.  Crawford  danced  an  American  jig  to  the  fiddling  of  a  rela- 
tion of  his, —  the  dancing  somewhat  solemn,  but  its  good  faith 
made  up  for  any  want  of  mirth.  He  had  other  resources  for 
the  amusement  of  guests, —  a  gun  to  startle  the  mountain 
echoes,  and  a  horn  which,  blown  on  a  calm  day,  brings  a  chorus 
of  sweet  responses  from  the  far  hillsides."  In  my  time  (1850) 
Fabyan,  who  kept  a  large  hotel  on  the  plain  north  of  Craw- 
ford's, had  the  same  devices  of  gun  and  horn  to  amuse  his 
guests  ;  and  it  was  then  still  possible  to  see  the  deer  at  night 
feeding  on  the  plain,  while  the  bears  were  now  and  then  killed 
in  the  forest.  Dr.  Earle  took  the  same  course  away  from  the 
mountain  which  I  followed  eighteen  years  after  ;  that  is,  to 
Littleton  and  Bath,  and  so  down  the  Connecticut  valley.  His 
description  of  the  scenery,  and  some  mention  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Shakers,  here  follows:  — 

We  left  Crawford's  Friday  noon,  and  journeyed  north-westerly 
eighteen  miles  to  Littleton,  a  pretty  village  in  a  low  valley  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ammonoosuc,  surrounded  with  lofty  hills.  Thence  we 
followed  the  Ammonoosuc  to  Bath,  and  so  into  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut,  just  below  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers.  Our  ride  was 
delightful.  The  fertile  meadows  on  the  Connecticut  are  worthy  of 
all  the  praises  so  long  bestowed  on  them.  Verdant  with  grass  or 
luxuriant  with  Indian  corn,  profuse  with  waving  grain  or  heavily 
laden  with  fruit,  they  lie  before  us  as  we  turn  to  the  right  in  passing 
down  the  New  Hampshire  side  of  the  stream,  and  stretch  away  in 
either  a  continued  level  or  a  gentle  undulation,  interspersed  with 
neat  dwellings,  and  with  a  noble  river  rolling  on  between  them.     We 


48  NEW    HAMPSHIRE    SCENERY 

dined  at  Haverhill,  a  village  about  as  large  as  Leicester,  with  a  court- 
house and  an  academy  in  the  same  building.  From  there  to  Han- 
over, twenty-seven  miles,  our  route  still  lay  on  the  river  bank ;  and 
we  admired  the  varied  yet  always  romantic  and  beautiful  scenery 
through  which  we  passed.  At  Orford,  before  reaching  Hanover,  we 
stopped  to  examine  silkworms.  Such  a  curiosity  to  me !  *  We 
spent  the  Sabbath  at  Hanover,  and  attended  a  Shaker  meeting  a  few 
miles  away.  It  consisted  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  members 
and  perhaps  fifty  spectators.  Our  friend  Lazarus,  the  Southerner, 
who  still  favored  us  with  his  agreeable  company,  thought  that  "  four 
out  of  five  among  those  black-eyed  girls  would  get  away  if  they  could." 
I  could  not  feel  that  I  was  in  a  house  of  worship.  Hanover  is  finely 
situated.  Most  of  the  dwellings  are  placed  around  a  very  large  com- 
mon, and  are  well  shaded  with  ornamental  trees.  The  east  side  of 
this  square  is  occupied  by  the  college  (Dartmouth)  and  the  other 
buildings  thereunto  belonging.  The  view  of  Dartmouth  College 
upon  the  fireboard  in  the  Leicester  parlor  is  very  good. 

On  Monday  we  rode  fifty-four  miles  to  Concord,  the  capital  of 
New  Hampshire,  across  a  rough  and  rugged  country,  over  high  hills, 
and  in  sight  of  many  mountains.  I  called  on  Stephen  Breed,  and 
concluded  to  go  to  the  town  of  Weare  the  next  morning.  Accordingly, 
at  that  time,  Samuel  Gummere,  Lazarus,  and  Prince, —  a  young  man 
from  Boston,  who  had  been  our  constant  companion  since  we  left  the 
mountain, —  set  out  for  Boston,  and  I  for  Weare.  Arriving  at  noon, 
I  called  at  Pelatiah  Gove's  in  the  afternoon.  Thursday  morning  I 
left  Weare,  and,  riding  seventy  miles  through  Amherst,  Nashua, 
Lowell,  Billerica,  etc.,  I  arrived  at  Boston  in  the  evening;  and 
Thursday  we  returned  to  Providence. 

Fears  of  the  cholera,  which  was  then  visiting  America,  had 
kept  the  Friends'  School  from  opening  at  the  usual  time,  and 
allowed  Pliny  Earle  to  make  this  comparatively  long  tour.  It 
was  finally  opened  in  October ;  and,  in  mentioning  the  fact  to 
his  sister,  he  indulges  in  that  odd  jesting  so  characteristic  of 
him  in  later  life,  saying  :  — 

The  school-house  was  opened  on  Sunday  last,  pursuant  to  notice. 
In  course  of  the  week  ten  girls  were  admitted,  and  three  boys  in  the 

*  This  is  sarcastical.  At  Leicester  the  Earle  family  had  long  been  raising  silkworms,  and  losing 
money  by  it.     An  uncle  of  Dr.  Earle  lived  at  Weare,  N.H. 


1827-1837  49 

Classical  Department ;  while  we  (in  the  English  Department)  re- 
ceived so  many  that,  were  the  number  to  double  each  succeeding 
week  till  April  i  (twenty-two  weeks),  we  should  then  have  no  less  than 
4,194,304  pupils,  more  than  the  whole  population  of  New  England 
and  New  York  combined.  To  save  you  the  trouble  of  computation, 
I  may  as  well  add  that  w^e  have  had  just  one  solitary  scholar,  George 
Taber,  a  little  fellow  from  New  Bedford,  who  has  been  crying  because 
he  has  been  lonely,  and  picking  potatoes  for  amusement. 

Providence,  Nov.  24,  1832. —  Dr.  Griscom  has  come  to  Providence,* 
but  is  not  expecting  to  remove  his  family  until  spring.  He  will  be 
in  the  school  in  a  few  days ;  and,  after  the  close  of  our  lectures  on 
"  Natural  Philosophy  "  (four  have  been  given),  he  will  give  a  course 
upon  "  Chemistry,"  from  which  we  expect  much.  We  have  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  scholars  on  both  sides,  with  the  prospect  of  enough 
more  to  make  us  (un)comfortable.  Among  the  one  hundred  and 
thirty  I  count  nearly  a  dozen  cousins ;  namely,  four  of  Uncle 
Arnold  Buffum's,  four  of  Cousin  David's,  two  of  Uncle  Otis's,  and  one 
of  Abraham  Barker's  children.  I  could  sit  under  the  clock  each  day, 
and  then  not  see  each  of  my  cousins  oftener  than  once  a  fortnight. 

May  2,  1833. —  Dr.  Griscom  has  returned  from  New  York,  after  an 
absence  of  three  weeks,  bringing  three  daughters  and  a  son  with  him. 
They  have  taken  lodgings  at  Mary  Easton's  on  Main  Street,  opposite 
the  Episcopal  church.  I  have  spent  two  or  three  evenings  in  com- 
pany with  the  girls,  and  am  very  much  pleased  with  them.  The 
youngest  is  fine-looking,  sociable,  and,  if  I  am  in  any  measure  a  dis- 
ciple of  Lavater,  she  is  amiable.  John  Gummere  has  been  spending 
two  or  three  days  in  Providence.  He  and  Dr.  Griscom  have  given 
their  presence  to  our  sitting-room  together  once  or  twice.  They  are 
doubtless  the  two  most  learned  Quakers  in  America.  A  few  days 
ago  I  went  one  evening  with  two  of  the  Miss  Griscoms  to  the  Man- 
sion House,  where  we  met  the  wife  and  three  daughters  of  Rem- 
brandt Peale,  the  artist.  In  a  few  minutes  we  were  as  sociable  as 
old  acquaintances,  and  the  clock  struck  ten  before  we  thought  of  the 
time.     To  praise  the  daughters  would  be  a  matter  of  course, —  what 

*This  was  the  elder  Dr.  John  Griscom,  a  New  Jersey  Quaker  (bom  1774,  died  1852),  who  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  a  teacher  in  early  life  in  New  Jersey,  then  removed  to  New  York  in  1807,  and 
taught  there  for  twenty-five  years,  besides  being  active  in  charitable  and  scientific  work.  He  had 
been  "literary  principal''  in  the  Providence  Friends'  School  for  some  years  at  this  time,  but  resigned 
in  1835,  and  returned  to  Burlington,  N.J.  His  son,  John  H.,  was  professor  of  chemistry  at  New  York 
for  some  years,  and  an  active  member  of  the  New  York  Prison  Association,  as  well  as  a  copious 
writer.  Rembrandt  Peale  (bom  1778,  died  i860)  was  the  son  of  C.  W.  Peale,  studied  with  West,  and 
painted  good  portraits  of  Washington,  as  his  father  had  done. 


50  DR.    EARLE    IN    PROVIDENCE 

every  one  would  feel  bound  to  do, —  but  I  was  none  the  less  pleased 
with  Mrs.  Peale.  She  appears  to  be  one  of  your  good,  kind,  motherly 
women,  one  who  acknowledges  there  is  reality  as  well  as  romance  in 
the  world.  Her  husband  has  been  in  England  some  seven  months 
has  decided  to  make  that  country  his  home,  and  she  and  her  daugh- 
ters are  going  to  meet  him  in  London  some  time  next  summer. 

During  this  season,  in  a  school  so  large  as  above  mentioned, 
Dr.  Earle's  tasks  vi^ere  many  and  engrossing,  especially  as  he 
was  also  studying  medicine  with  Dr.  Parsons,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  taught  five  and  a  half  days,  with  an  occasional  evening 
lecture.  ''Every  day  and  every  evening,"  he  wrote,  "has  its 
particular  exercise.  Even  Sunday  shines  no  Sabbath  day  to 
me."  He  taught  reading,  writing,  English  grammar,  algebra, 
and  geometry,  besides  botanical  lectures  ;  and  it  was  now  that 
he  gave  that  particular  attention  to  spelling  which  his  autobi- 
ography mentions.     March  24,  1833,  he  writes:  — 

D.  does  pursue  the  method  of  having  the  words  written  for 
spelling  ;  but  it  was  introduced  by  me.  I  recommended  it  a  long 
time  before  it  was  adopted,  but  could  get  none  to  encroach  so  far 
upon  the  "good  old  way"  as  to  attempt  this  reformation.  There- 
fore, I  asked  my  class  one  morning  to  take  their  slates  for  spelling. 
They  did  so,  and  were  much  pleased  with  the  exercise.  Very  soon 
the  whole  school  were  using  their  pencils  so. 

Dr.  Earle  came  to  the  head  of  the  Providence  school  in 
1835,  but  did  not  long  continue  there;  for  his  preparatory 
medical  studies  were  now  so  far  advanced  that  he  entered  the 
Medical  College  at  Philadelphia  in  the  autumn  of  that  year. 
His  journey  to  Philadelphia  was  the  occasion  for  many  visits 
and  observations,  which  he  thus  records,  in  a  letter  to  his  sister 
Eliza,  at  Mulberry  Grove  :  — 

Anno  Mundi  6839,  and  Anno  Plinii  xxv,  on  the  21st  of  that 
month  vulgarly  called  October,  I  arrived  at  the  summit  of  the  hill  of 
all  hills,  Leicester  Hill,*  intending  to  take  the  stage-coach  for  Hart- 

•  From  the  ridge  on  which  the  Earles  lived  in  1835  it  is  a  mile  and  a  half  to  Leicester  Hill,  on 
which  the  village  stands, —  a  "  Yankee  Perugia,"  as  one  of  its  residents  calls  it ;  and  there  is  a  resem- 
blance to  that  Italian  town  in  the  site,  not  the  architecture  or  art.  "  Mount  Pleasant"  is  a  hill  farther 
westward,  which  was  early  occupied  by  a  provincial  magnate  as  a  country  seat.  Indeed,  all  the  hills 
in  this  region  are  suited  for  rural  magnificence. 


1827-1837  51 

ford.  It  soon  arrived,  not,  as  I  had  feared,  crowded  with  passen- 
gers, but  containing  one  journey-man  and  one  journey-lady.  And 
who  should  these  be  but  the  Honorable  Leonard  M.  Parker  and  his 
daughter  Elizabeth  ?  The  father  very  kindly  and  politely  offered  me 
a  seat  beside  the  daughter,  which  I  did  not  hesitate  to  accept. 
It  would  have  been  crossing  myself  and  very  ungallant  to  refuse. 
"  Crack  went  the  whip,  round  went  the  wheels."  We  pleasantly 
mounted  Mount  Pleasant  on  our  way  to  the  capital  of  Quinnihtiquot. 
Brookfield,  Brimfield,  many  a  cornfield  and  potato-field,  besides  enor- 
mous quantities  of  pumpkins  and  bumpkins,  were  among  the  objects 
of  our  attention  that  forenoon.  Ten  days  earlier  the  beauty  of  the 
scenery  would  have  been  increased  by  the  autumn  foliage  of  the 
forests ;  but  now  the  thousand  tints  which  had  decked  them  were 
mostly  melted  into  a  sombre  brown,  and  the  eye  was  pained  where 
it  might  have  been  delighted.  We  dined  at  Stafford,  Ct. ;  and,  while 
dinner  was  being  put  on,  I  went  into  the  "  cupola  furnace  "  of  the 
Hydes.  The  tremendous  bellows  were  wheezing  at  an  awful  rate  ; 
and  from  the  brilliancy  of  the  flame  one  might  well  suppose  that  it 

was  so  hot,  Josiah, 
That  if  you  only  was  put  in  it. 
Then  took  out  and  laid  on  the  fire, 
You'd  freeze  to  death  in  a  minute. 

At  Hartford  we  lodged  at  the  City  Hotel,  with  excellent  accommo- 
dations. After  tea  I  visited  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  where  I 
found  a  daughter  of  John  Macomber,  of  Westport,  the  only  person  in 
the  institution  with  whom  I  had  been  before  acquainted.  She  rec- 
ognized me  immediately,  and  we  had  an  interesting  tete-a-tete.  Be- 
fore breakfast  on  the  2 2d  (Wednesday)  I  went  to  see  the  Charter 
Oak,  which  looks  very  much  like  other  oaks  equally  old.  After 
breakfast  I  went  again  to  the  asylum  with  Elizabeth  Parker  and  her 
father  ;  and  we  were  conducted  through  the  various  departments, — 
school-rooms,  kitchen,  dormitories,  workshops,  etc.  The  school  had 
been  suspended  for  a  few  weeks,  and  some  of  the  pupils  were  ab- 
sent. However,  nearly  one  hundred  were  present,  all  industriously 
employed  during  our  visit,  the  girls  with  their  needles,  and  the  boys 
at  the  several  trades  there  taught.  After  what  has  been  said  of 
Julia   Brace,*   I   need  say  nothing  except  that  I  saw  her  thread   a 

*  The  American  Asylum,  mentioned  above,  was  the  first  school  for  the  deaf  established  in  Amer- 
ica, and  then  served  for  all  New  England.     At  present  there  are  seven  other  schools  for  this  class  in 


52  HARTFORD    AND    NEW    HAVEN 

needle,  which  she  did  very  expeditiously,  and  was  presented  with  a 
piece  of  her  patchwork  sewed  quite  decently. 

After  we  returned,  A.  S.  Beckwith,  whose  family  live  in  Hartford, 
took  me  to  ride  with  him.  We  passed  Washington  College  (now 
Trinity)  and  the  beautiful  residence  of  Mrs.  Sigournej^*  and  stopped 
at  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane.  Its  situation  is  remarkably  pleasant, 
commanding  a  delightful  prospect.  It  is  conducted  upon  a  plan 
very  similar  to  that  of  the  Lunatic  Asylum  at  Worcester.  While  at 
the  City  Hotel,  Rev.  T.  H.  Gallaudet,  who  founded  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  Asylum,  came  in ;  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  being  intro- 
duced to  him.  He  is  a  plain,  modest  man,  about  five  feet  five  in 
height,  with  spectacles  on  nose,  and  a  face  that  beams  with  benevo- 
lence. 

New  Have7i,  October  23.  (Tontine  Hotel.)  —  We  reached  here 
before  nine  last  evening.  Just  after  breakfast  this  morning  I  went 
to  the  house  of  Professor  Olmsted,  to  deliver  the  letter  with  which 
Professor  Elton,  of  Providence,  had  favored  me.  The  professor  had 
gone  to  Yale  College  to  give  a  lecture.  I  followed,  but  the  lecture 
had  commenced.  I  was  desirous  to  hear  the  person  who  had  just 
become  extensively  known  as  a  scientific  man  by  publishing  one  of 
the  best  recent  works  on  Natural  Philosophy,  and  as  the  first  person 
who  saw  the  comet  in  America  at  its  late  approach.  So  I  went  to 
the  door  of  the  lecture-room,  which  I  found  in  that  position  when 
it  is  not  a  door, —  because  it  is  ajar  !  The  lecturer  stood  with  his 
back  towards  me,  talking  to  eighty  or  ninety  young  men  about 
"nodes,"  "apsides,"  "perigees,"  and  "apogees."  He  very  soon 
turned,  perceived  me,  came  to  the  door,  took  my  letter,  and  invited 
me  in.  After  the  instructive  and  well-delivered  lecture  closed,  he 
took  me  to  his  room,  and,  upon  some  remark  about  the  comet,t 
asked  me  into  the  observatory  where  he  discovered  it.  His  tele- 
New  England  ;  and  even  Connecticut  has  a  second  school  at  Mystic,  near  New  London,  where  tlie 
oral  method  is  used,  and  signs  discarded.     Julia  Brace  was  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind. 

*  The  once  famous  poet,  Lydia  Huntley,  (born  1791,  died  1865,  married  Charles  Sigouniey  in 
1819),  to  whom  Dr.  Earle,  on  his  return  from  Europe  in  1839,  sent  flowers  and  shells  gathered  by  him 
in  classic  scenes.  A  statue  of  Dr.  Gallaudet,  the  work  of  D.  C.  French,  now  stands  in  the  asylum 
grounds.  He  died  in  1851,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four,  having  founded  the  asylum  in  iSr7  when  thirty 
years  old. 

tThis  was  the  comet  upon  which  Dr.  Holmes  wrote  his  amusing  verses,  about  the  time  Professor 
Olmsted  discovered  it.  The  latter  was  forty-four  at  this  time,  being  born  in  1791.  He  died  in  1859. 
Professor  Silliman  was  the  elder  of  two  Yale  professors  of  that  name  (boni  1779,  died  1864).  He  trav- 
elled in  Great  Britain  and  Holland  in  1805-6,  and  in  1812  secured  for  his  college  the  collection  of 
rnmerals  made  in  Europe  by  Colonel  Gibbs.  In  1835  he  was  the  most  eminent  geologist  in  America, 
though  not  the  best. 


1827-1837  53 

scope  is  a  refractor  of  ten  feet  focal  distance,  so  fixed  upon  the 
standard  that  every  part  of  the  heavens  may  be  observed  except 
near  the  zenith.  He  said  that  the  comet,  when  lirst  seen,  was  like  a 
speck  of  smoke  no  bigger  than  a  thumb-nail.  The  only  proof  that 
it  was  a  comet  was  the  change  of  place  apparent  the  next  night. 
After  examining  his  apparatus,  including  the  most  powerful  electri- 
cal machine  I  had  ever  seen,  we  went  to  the  cabinet  of  minerals, 
where  we  found  Professor  Silliman  about  to  lecture  on  mineralogy. 
His  special  subject  was  quartz  and  its  silicious  companions.  His 
style  was  simple,  and  his  manner  easy  and  informal.  He  remarked 
in  conversation  that  "  the  New  England  Friends  know  not  what  they 
have  lost  in  allowing  Dr.  Griscom  to  leave  their  school  at  Provi- 
dence." 

In  the  afternoon  I  noticed  in  the  burial-ground  north-west  of  New 
Haven  the  monument  of  Eli  Whitney,  inventor  of  the  cotton-gin, — 
of  freestone,  consisting  of  a  parallelopipedon  base,  8  feet  by  4  and 
3  feet  high,  surmounted  by  a  beautiful  entablature  a  foot  high,  termi- 
nating at  the  ends  in  a  scroll,  like  those  in  the  capital  of  an  Ionic 
pillar.  Returning  to  the  city,  I  visited  a  collection  of  paintings  left 
to  Yale  College  by  Colonel  Trumbull,  the  painter,  and  handsomely 
arranged  in  a  building  erected  for  that  special  purpose.*  INIany  ad- 
ditions have  since  been  made  to  the  gallery.  I  left  it  unwillingly,  be- 
fore examining  half  of  the  pictures,  in  order  to  take  tea  at  Professor 
Olmsted's,  where  I  spent  most  of  the  evening.  He  is  about  forty, 
in  height  five  feet  seven,  with  an  activity  of  motion  that  would  grace 
a  youth  of  sixteen.  His  complexion  is  dark:  his  hair,  eyebrows, 
and  eyes,  black  as  jet. 

A'ezi'  York,  October  25. —  I  walked  in  the  north-east,  or  "new," 
part  of  the  city.  This  modern  American  Babel  increases  astonish- 
ingly. Arriving  at  Washington  Square,  my  attention  was  attracted 
by  a  building,  the  University  of  New  York,  of  purely  Gothic  archi- 
tecture, and  a  stately  marble  pile.  It  somewhat  resembles  Newstead 
Abbey;  but  the  towers  and  turrets  are  surmounted  with  blocks  of 
marble  instead  of  spires, —  rather  a  compound  of  Abbotsford  and 
Newstead. 

These  remarks  on  architecture  in  New  York  and  New  Haven 
show  that  Dr.  Earle  had  been    studying  that   subject  at   the 

*The  painter  Trumbull  did  not  die  till  1S43,  but  gave  his  pictures  to  Yale  College  for  an  annu- 
ity of  Si, 000. 


54 


CHRISTMAS    IN    PHILADELPHIA 


time  when  Greek  and  Gothic  styles  were  getting  introduced 
and  mingled  in  America.  His  comments  were  founded  on  en- 
gravings ;  for  he  had  not  seen  any  ancient  buildings,  and  pho- 
tography was  yet  in  its  gloomy  infancy.  His  interest  in  art 
was  always  marked,  but  his  taste  was  far  from  severe.  Con- 
tinuing his  journey,  he  reached  Philadelphia  by  steamer  on  the 
26th,  and  found  friends  there,  as  everywhere.  The  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Martin  Van  Buren,  soon  to  become  President,  was  in 
Philadelphia  at  the  time ;  and  Dr.  Earle,  always  ready  to  see 
notabilities,  went  to  call  on  him  at  his  hotel,  but  found  him 
gone. 

Philadelphia,  October  27. —  While  at  breakfast,  Dr.  Griscom  called, 
in  fine  health  and  spirits.  I  went  with  him  to  call  on  John  Farnum. 
Also,  having  sent  my  letters  of  introduction  in  advance,  I  called  on 
Dr.  Robert  Hare,  and  found  him  fat  and  more  than  forty, —  as  jolly 
as  he  is  fat,  and  as  gray  as  he  is  forty.  Add  an  inch  or  two  to  the 
stature  of  Alexander  Gaspard  Vottier,  of  the  sugar-plums,  give  him 
an  intellectual  instead  of  a  bacchanalian  countenance,  a  little  more 
expansion  of  forehead  and  enlargement  of  sinciput,  and  you  have  a 
model  of  the  carnal  portion  of  the  American  giant  in  chemistry. 
Even  in  their  speech  there  is  a  very  striking  similarity. 

In  Philadelphia  for  the  first  time  the  student  saw  Christmas 
kept  as  it  never  was  at  that  period  in  New  England,  where  the 
Puritan  Thanksgiving,  a  month  earlier,  had  quite  supplanted 
Christmas,  which  was  not  even  a  holiday  in  Massachusetts  till 
many  years  after  1835.  Writing  home  on  Christmas  evening 
in  that  year,  Dr.  Earle  said  :  — 

A  Christmas  among  the  people  of  this  city  of  Penn  puts  to  the 
blush  all  the  blessed  Thanksgiving  Days  that  animate  the  compara- 
tively sober  inhabitants  of  the  Bay  State.  It  would  be  hard  for 
Jonathan  Doolittle  to  strike  a  note  high  enough  to  describe  the  "  lots 
o'  good  livinV'  the  fun,  frolic,  flash,  and  fashion  that  characterize 
this  day  of  festivity  in  Philadelphia.  I  say  a  day  of  festivity,  for 
such  it  is  with  a  large  proportion  of  the  citizens ;  although  many  (the 
Catholics,  particularly)  consecrate  it  to  divine  worship.  If  a  man 
passed  through  the  crowded  market  this  week,  it  was  at  the  expense 


1827-1837  55 

of  comfort,  if  not  of  a  broken  rib  or  a  demolished  or  overturned 
huckster's  tub.  Book-stores,  toy-shops,  confectioners, —  in  sliort, 
every  place  of  retail  trade, —  are  teeming  with  the  rare  and  the 
beautiful.  Last  evening  Santa  Claus  did  his  prettiest,  showering 
uncounted  blessings  in  the  shape  of  whistles,  rocking-horses,  wooden 
swords,  counterfeit  puppies,  mice,  and  kittens,  together  with  cakes 
and  confections  of  all  kinds,  on  the  children.  The  stocking  of  every 
manikin  and  womanikin  overflowed  this  morning  with  the  gifts  of 
Saint  Nicholas.  With  honor  be  his  name  spoken !  After  dinner  I 
thought  I  would  mingle  with  the  rest  of  the  fashionables,  to  see  and 
be  seen  ;  and  I  found  the  streets  swarming  with  a  joy-seeking  popu- 
lation. Boys  ringing  a  grand  chorus  upon  rackets,  whistles,  and 
would-be  flageolets,  crowds  of  young  men  at  the  street  corners 
smoking  cigars,  and  unnumbered  ladies,  eloquent  with  smiles  and 
enveloped  in  capes  with  large  cloaks  attached  to  them,  threading  the 
streets, —  all  were  as  merry  as  Christmas.  So  much  for  Sixth  Street 
and  Franklin  Square.  In  Race  Street  a  long  procession,  in  the 
deepest  mourning,  followed  the  remains  of  a  departed  friend.  Arch 
Street,  of  course,  was  thronged.  And  there,  again,  as  if  to  contrast 
the  luxury  of  life  with  the  pangs  of  death,  an  extensive  cake  and 
confectionery  establishment  was  filled  with  eaters ;  while  above  and 
around  and  before  the  next  door,  in  large,  staring  capitals,  was  to  be 
read,  "  Coffins  ready-made."  An  oyster-cellar  came  next,  where  the 
vulgar,  the  profane,  the  intemperate, —  very  offscourings  and  canaille, 
—  were  drinking  and  carousing.  The  confused  gibberish  of  a  hun- 
dred tongues,  the  hollow  laugh, —  long,  loud,  and  hysterical, —  the 
horrid  oath,  the  thumping  of  the  toddy-stick,  made  not  only  the 
room,  but  the  street  before  it,  odious.  Then  Chestnut  Street, — 
whew  !  what  a  river  of  humanity !  what  a  condensation  of  flesh  and 
vesture,  a  flood  of  men,  women,  and  children  ! 

With  scores  of  ladies,  whose  bright  eyes 
Rain  influence. 

But  at  this  moment  the  clouds  also  began  to  rain,  and  put  a 
damper  on  the  general  hilarity. 

All  this  was  a  new  scene  to  the  serious-minded  Quaker  from 
Leicester  and  Providence,  but  his  kindly  heart  inclined  him  to 
look  on  it    with  pleasure.     Not  so  the  state  of  things  in  the 


56  MEDICAL    STUDENTS    IN    PHILADELPHIA 

Medical  College, —  never  a  very  quiet  place, —  and  just  then,  in 
1836-37,  unusually  disturbed  by  unmannerly  students.  Writing 
at  the  end  of  February,  1836,  Dr.  Earle  says  :  — 

It  appears  that  three  hundred  and  ninety-eight  medical  students 
have  attended  lectures  the  present  term,  nearly  every  one  of  the 
twenty-four  States  being  represented  here,  as  well  as  Nova  Scotia, 
Canada,  England,  and  South  America.  These  heterogeneous 
materials  have  mingled  during  the  last  four  months  with  as  little 
effervescence  ae  could  be  expected.  Indeed,  our  preceptors  say  we 
have  been  very  good  boys,  "  the  kindest  of  classes,"  *'  the  most 
gentlemanly  class  that  ever  attended  this  school,"  etc.  Let  us  see : 
(i)  The  son  of  a  Governor  of  one  of  our  Southern  States  caned 
another  "  gentleman  "  at  the  theatre,  who  thereupon,  believing  that 
"one  good  turn  deserves  another,"  repaid  the  caner  with  compound 
interest. 

Behold  how  good  a  thing  it  is, 
And  how  exceeding  well, 

Together,  such  as  brethren  are, 
In  unity  to  dwell. 

(2)  Another  gentleman  stabbed  one  of  the  vulgar  with  his  jack-knife  ; 

(3)  another  was  kept  in  three  or  four  weeks  by  wounds  received 
from  the  dirk  of  a  fellow-laborer ;  (4)  another  drew  his  dirk  upon  the 
driver  of  an  omnibus,  but  shed  no  blood;  (5)  while  a  fifth  benevolent 
creature  called  on  one  of  his  classmates  in  the  evening,  invited  him 
to  the  door,  and  there,  upon  the  steps,  shot  him  in  the  legs  with  a 
charge  of  buckshot.  He  who  received  the  wound  was  instantly 
confined  in  Arch  Street  Prison,  to  prevent  him  from  challenging  his 
friend ;  while  the  one  who  gave  the  wound  died  a  few  weeks  after 
of  typhus  fever.  After  these  "gentlemanly"  encounters,  the  minor 
affairs  of  "  cabbaging "  cloaks,  umbrellas,  overshoes,  etc.,  are  un- 
important,—  they  hardly  begin  to  make  a  man  a  "gentleman"  now- 
adays. Heretofore  the  conduct  of  students  has  been  such  that 
odium  is  cast  upon  the  whole  tribe  of  -^sculapian  tyros.  The 
term  "medical  student,"  with  many  citizens,  is  intimately  associated 
with  "roguery,"  "impudence,"  "lawlessness,"  "delicate  sense  of 
fashionable  honor,"  etc. ;  while  another  very  large  class  (the  Phila- 
delphia negroes)  add  to  this  list  "tyranny,"  "cruelty,"  "murderer," 
"thief,"  and  a  few  other  endearing  epithets.    This  last  fact  is  fraught 


1827-1837  57 

with  an  advantage,  however ;  for,  of  all  the  mothers  in  the  twenty-five 
thousand  colored  population,  I  hardly  think  there  is  one  who  does 
not  govern  her  children  by  threatening  them  with  the  medical 
students.  Every  disobedient  urchin  is  told,  "  I'll  give  you  to  the 
students  "' ;  and  by  this  magic  of  a  name  he  is  brought  back  to  the 
path  of  rectitude.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  all  this,  a  great  majority  of 
the  four  hundred  students  are  gentlemen  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
word, —  men  of  kind,  generous,  and  ardent  feelings,  with  native 
talent,  well  cultivated,  and  of  a  spirit  that  scorns  to  commit  acts  by 
some  thought  necessary  to  support  their  "  honor."  It  is  the  conduct 
of  a  few  which  has  stigmatized  the  whole. 

These  remarks  recall  to  the  aged  the  state  of  things  which 
the  semi-civilization  of  certain  slaveholding  communities  im- 
posed upon  much  of  our  country  sixty  years  ago,  and  which 
drew  forth  from  foreign  observers  the  censure  that  was  found 
so  provoking  by  Dr.  Earle's  contemporaries.  In  August,  1835, 
Mrs.  Kemble-Butler,  then  living  in  Philadelphia,  wrote  to  her 
publisher  in  London,  Murray,  this  extreme  statement :  — 

There  are  mobs  in  every  part  of  this  country,  burning,  tarring  and 
feathering,  hanging  without  jury,  judge,  or  other  warrant  than  their 
own  sovereign  pleasure.  The  slave  question  is  becoming  one  of  ex- 
treme excitement.  The  Northern  folks  push  the  emancipation  plans 
with  all  the  zeal  of  people  who  have  nothing  to  lose  by  their  philan- 
thropy ;  and  the  Southerners  hold  fast  by  their  slippery  property,  like 
so  many  tigers.  The  miserable  blacks  are  restricted  every  day 
within  narrower  bounds  of  freedom ;  and  the  result  of  all  is  clear 
enough  to  my  perception.  The  abuse  is  growing  to  its  end ;  but  it 
will  not  be  done  away  with  quietly.  There  will,  I  fear,  be  a  season 
of  awful  retribution  before  right  is  done  to  these  unfortunate 
wretches. 

No  young  man  brought  up  as  Dr.  Earle  had  been  could  fail 
to  see  where  the  poison  of  our  social  and  political  system  lay  ; 
but  it  w^as  hard  to  prescribe  for  an  evil  so  deep-seated.  Mrs. 
Butler  w^as  right  in  her  general  prognosis,  as  the  event  proved ; 
but  most  Americans  in  1837  hoped  for  an  easier  solution  of  the 
slave  question.     Dr.  Earle  was  one  of  these.     His  attention 


58  PHILADELPHIA    PHILOSOPHICAL    SOCIETY 

was  chiefly  drawn  to  other  topics,  though  he  never  neglected 
this  one.  Philadelphia  interested  him  in  many  ways,  and  not 
merely  as  the  place  of  his  medical  graduation.  Its  scientific 
and  philanthropic  eminence  among  American  cities  drew  his 
attention ;  and  the  prominence  of  the  Quakers  attracted  him 
and  his  relatives,  of  whom  several  settled  there.  From  his 
letters  of  1836  and  1837,  this  may  be  cited  :  — 

Saturday  evening  Dr.  Griscom  had  the  kindness  to  introduce  me 
into  the  rooms  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  —  a  little  para- 
dise upon  earth  to  a  scientific  man.  The  library  contains  twenty 
thousand  volumes,  chiefly  scientific  works,  ranged  about  the  room  in 
cases  ;  while  those  parts  of  the  walls  not  so  occupied  are  hung  with 
portraits  of  worthies  eminent  in  the  annals  of  science.  Dr.  Franklin 
was  its  first  president  and  one  of  its  first  members.  The  present 
librarian,  an  active  octogenarian,  still  adheres  to  the  practice  of 
whitening  with  powder  that  hair  which  the  snows  of  age  have 
blanched.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  members,  and  long  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  Franklin.*  I  am  to  breakfast  with  him  on  Tuesday 
morning. 

Feb.  6,  1837. —  The  Abolitionists  in  Philadelphia  are  about  to  have 
a  large  hall  erected  for  their  especial  accommodation.  It  will  be  the 
largest  in  the  city.  Charles  C.  Burleigh  has  lately  been  speaking 
here,  and  was  very  much  liked.  J.  G.  Whittier  also  has  been  spend- 
ing some  time  here,  but  not  on  business  connected  with  the  Anti- 
slavery  Society.  While  here,  he  added  another  Unk  to  the  prolix 
chain  of  marvellous  things  said  to  have  been  performed  as  animal 
magnetism  at  Boston  and  Providence.  He  was  present,  it  seems, 
when  Poyen  performed  experiments  upon  the  damsel  from  Pawtucket, 
before  Drs.  Walter  Channing  and  Ware,  Rev.  Dr.  Channing,  and 
some  members  of  the  State  legislature.!     Dr.  Ware  acknowledged 

•This  was  Mr.  John  Vaughan,  bom  1755,  died  Dec.  30,  1S41.  At  the  date  of  his  death  he  had 
been  treasurer  of  the  society  more  than  fifty  years,  or  since  1790.  He  lived  in  the  building  of  the 
Philosophical  Society,  which  is  on  the  west  side  of  Fifth  Street,  just  below  Chestnut,  and  appears  to  be 
in  Independence  Square,  but  really  is  older  than  the  square,  standing  in  a  plot  of  ground  given  by  the 
city  before  the  square  was  formed.  Mr.  Vaughan  had  a  famous  custom  of  giving  breakfasts  to  dis- 
tinguished visitors  to  Philadelphia  in  his  rooms  there.  Mr.  B.  S.  Lyman,  one  of  the  present  curators, 
says,  "  The  old  meeting-room  had  a  charming,  old-fashioned  look  of  quiet  elegance,  but  was  wholly 
changed  at  the  time  the  building  was  enlarged  and  altered,  about  1890." 

t  Whittier  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  legislature  from  Haverhill  two  years  in 
succession,— 1835  and  1836.  He  was  one  of  the  members  present  at  these  experiments  in  Boston, 
no  doubt,  though  he  does  not  seem  to  have  taken  much  part  in  legislative  proceedings  in  1837.     He 


1827-1837  59 

himself  a  proselyte  ;  and  Rev.  Dr.  Channing  declared  his  meta- 
physics to  be  confounded.  Dr.  Tobey  (of  Providence)  informs  me 
that  M.  B.  Lockwood  has  become  an  adept  in  the  science. 

There  were  disturbances  among  the  Philadelphia  medical 
students  in  the  winter  of  1836-37,  which  came  to  the  public 
notice  through  articles  in  the  Ledger  and  other  newspapers  ; 
but,  amid  all  the  troubles  of  the  class,  Dr.  Earle  pursued  his 
studies  calmly,  and  took  his  degree  early  in  March,  with 
some  distinction.  He  made  a  brief  visit  to  Washington  at 
the  inauguration  of  Van  Buren  as  President ;  made  his  ar- 
rangements with  deliberation  and  good  judgment  for  his  pro- 
posed year  of  medical  study  in  Europe  ;  visited  Leicester  and 
bade  farewell  to  his  mother, —  his  father  having  died  in  1832, — 
his  sisters  and  brothers  ;  promised  to  correspond  from  Europe 
for  the  Worcester  Spy,  which  his  brother  Milton  was  then  edit- 
ing; and,  on  the  25th  of  March,  1837,  sailed  from  New  York 
for  Liverpool  on  the  packet  ship  "Virginian,"  a  sailing-vessel. 
The  first  use  he  made  of  his  nautical  observations  was  to  cor- 
rect a  false  opinion  which  he  had  formed  at  Providence  as  to 
sea-distances ;  and  the  remark  in  his  diary  is  so  characteristic 
that  this  chapter  may  well  close  with  it. 

March  27,  1837,  Lat.  41°  6',  Long.  68°  30'. —  The  Havre  packet 
"Albany,"  which  sailed  at  the  same  hour  with  the  "Virginian,"  is 
still  in  sight.  My  previous  impressions  with  regard  to  the  distance 
at  which  small  bodies  at  sea  are  visible  have  been  erroneous.  They 
need  not  have  been,  had  I  reflected ;  but,  having  drawn  my  conclu- 
sions from  observation  at  the  Providence  School,  I  believed  they 
might  be  seen  much  farther  than  is  possible.     From  the  height  on 

did  not  go  to  live  in  Philadelphia  until  late  in  that  year ;  and  the  new  hall  mentioned  above  was  not 
completed  till  1838,  when  Dr.  Earle  was  in  Paris.  It  was  destroyed  by  a  mob  in  the  same  year.  The 
excitement  in  New  England  over  mesmerism  or  animal  magnetism  followed  close  upon  that  ardent 
pursuit  of  the  pseudo-science  of  phrenology  which  was  stimulated  by  the  popularity  in  Boston  of  Dr. 
Spurzheim,  who,  with  the  eminent  anatomist,  Gall,  was  its  zealous  propagandist,  and  died  in  Boston 
(November,  1832)  while  lecturing  on  phrenology.  Dr.  Earle  no  doubt  heard  Spurzheim,  and 
became  more  than  half  a  believer  in  the  science,  as  did  also  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe  and  other  Massachusetts 
physicians.  Some  allusion  to  this  will  occur  hereafter.  Indeed,  Gall  and  Spurzheim,  though  ridi- 
culed for  making  a  chart  of  the  human  skull  to  correspond  with  certain  inward  functions  of  the 
brain,  did  lay  the  foundation  of  the  present  doctrine  concerning  the  brain  as  the  organ  of  the  mind ; 
and  this  part  of  their  theory  continued  to  interest  Dr.  Earle  through  life.  His  brother  Thomas  was 
^a  mesmerist,  and  often  had  experiments  at  his  Philadelphia  house,  but  long  after  1837. 


6o  DR.  earle's  candor 

which  that  building  stands,  it  is  evident  that  vessels  would  be  wholly 
visible  at  Newport  or  even  far  beyond,  were  there  no  intervening  ob- 
jects ;  but,  situated  as  we  are  now,  no  portion  of  the  hull  of  a  ship 
can  be  seen  farther  off  than  ten  or  fifteen  miles.  Hence  the  vessels 
that  we  meet,  though  they  heave  in  sight  directly  ahead,  are  very  soon 
(from  three  to  six  hours  or  more,  according  to  the  force  of  the  wind) 
all  invisible,  having  passed  out  of  sight  in  the  opposite  direction. 

This  candor  of  mind,  this  love  and  research  of  the  exact 
truth,  whatever  his  own  predilection  might  be,  was  my  friend's 
distinguishing  trait.  It  made  him  welcome  wherever  he  went, 
and  it  gave  to  his  well-considered  opinions  almost  the  force  of 
natural  fact. 


CHAPTER   III. 

ENGLAND    SIXTY    YEARS    SINCE, 

It  happened  fortunately  for  the  young  physician  on  his  first 
tour  in  Europe  that  the  railway  and  the  steamship  had  not  an- 
nihilated distances  and  made  it  possible  to  see  a  great  country 
in  a  week.  Dr.  Earle  found  himself  in  England  in  the  very 
culminating  period  of  the  English  stage-coach,  described  by 
Dickens  with  so  much  zest,  and  therefore  familiar  to  all  who 
have  read  that  popular  novelist.  He  journeyed  from  one  end 
of  the  island  to  the  other  in  1837  in  such  coaches,  and  lived  at 
such  inns  as  Dickens  and  the  earlier  novelists  set  before  us  in 
every  chapter.  He  crossed  the  Atlantic  from  New  York  in  the 
spring  of  that  year,  sailing  on  the  25th  of  March  and  landing 
in  Liverpool  the  middle  of  May.  Among  his  fellow-passengers, 
fourteen  in  all,  was  Joseph  Sturge,  of  Birmingham,  an  English 
Quaker,  just  returning  from  a  visit  to  Jamaica  and  the  other 
British  West  Indies  to  report  on  the  effects  of  the  then  recent 
policy  of  slave-emancipation.  This  fact,  and  the  many  intro- 
ductions to  English  Quakers  which  had  been  given  him  in 
America,  opened  to  young  Earle  at  once  the  rich  and  philan- 
thropic circle  of  Quakerism  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  He 
met  on  the  most  friendly  terms  the  Gurneys,  of  Earlham,  the 
Aliens,  of  London,  Sir  Fowell  Buxton,  Mrs.  Opie,  Samuel 
Lloyd,  the  great  banker,  the  Forsters,  Becks,  and  other  mem- 
bers of  that  well-known  society.  His  sketches  of  these  persons 
are  interesting :  — 

Sir  T.  F.  Buxton  is  a  plain,  familiar  man,  six  feet  two  inches  in 
height,  not  prepossessing  in  appearance,  but  interesting  in  conversa- 
tion. He  has  just  succeeded  [June,  1837]  in  obtaining  the  accept- 
ance by  the  House  of  Commons  of  a  report  in  relation  to  the  cruel- 
ties and  acts  of  injustice  practised  by  the  British  upon  the  aborigines 


62  ENGLISH  QUAKERS  IN  1 837 

of  their  various  dependencies,  and  hopes  soon  to  have  an  act  passed 
by  which  those  barbarities  will  be  stopped.  ...  At  the  quarterly 
meeting,  Elizabeth  Fry,  Hannah  Backhouse,  Anna  Braithwaite,  and 
Elizabeth  Dudley  sat  at  the  head  of  the  women's  department  of  the 
meeting  ;  and  all  of  them  appeared  either  in  testimony  or  supplication 
[that  is,  either  preached  or  prayed].  A  quaternion  of  ministers 
such  as  are  not  met  at  every  place  !  Elizabeth  Fry  has  more  dig- 
nity in  the  gallery  than  any  other  woman  I  ever  saw.  This,  with 
fluency  and  elegance  of  language,  and  a  voice  rich,  melodious,  and 
of  great  compass,  renders  her  a  most  impressive  speaker.  .  .  .  The 
English  women  Friends  who  are  elderly  seem  less  anxious  to  conceal 
the  footsteps  of  Time  than  do  those  in  America, —  I  mean,  those 
traces  left  by  the  lapse  of  years  on  their  persons.  However  gray  the 
hair  may  be,  it  is  not  concealed,  but  frequently  more  exposed  by 
bringing  it  forward  upon  the  forehead,  as  Anna  Braithwaite  does. 
Mrs.  Fry  has  a  sandy  complexion  and  hair  corresponding,  now  con- 
siderably changed  by  years.  However,  she  dresses  it  in  the  manner 
named,  having  a  portion  cut  short  and  brought  fro,m  beneath  the 
cap-border  through  the  whole  expanse  of  the  forehead.  She  has  a 
more  natural  dignity  of  manner  than  Amelia  Opie,  particularly  dur- 
ing her  public  communications.  I  shall  never  forget  the  silence  and 
solemnity  of  the  last  meeting  held  by  J.  J.  Gurney  (her  brother)  in 
London,  while  she  was  speaking.  As  she  closed  her  sermon  with 
the  appealing  exhortation  contained  in  the  seventeenth  verse  of  the 
last  chapter  of  Revelation,  "And  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say, 
Come,"  etc.,  an  almost  palpable  stillness  prevailed  throughout  that 
immense  assembly.  ...  I  have  met  her  at  the  meeting-house  during 
Yearly  Meeting,  at  S.  Gurney's  (both  in  London  and  Upton),  at 
her  own  house  two  or  three  times,  and  also  at  Newgate  Prison.  She 
still  continues  to  attend  that  abode  of  sinners  once  a  week;  but, 
others  having  become  enlisted  in  the  cause,  she  is  very  much  released 
from  the  onerous  duties  formerly  attendant  on  her  work  there,  and 
is  left  at  liberty  to  exert  herself  in  other  forms  of  benevolence.  In 
her  associations  she  approaches  the  English  throne.  She  showed  me 
two  long  letters  received  by  her,  immediately  after  the  death  of  the 
king  [William  IV.],  from  his  two  sisters,  the  Princess  of  Gloucester 
and  another ;  and  she  gave  me  as  autographs  two  or  three  letters, 
one  of  them  from  these  ladies.  ...  I  accidentally  learned  that  Mrs. 
Opie  had  rooms  in  the  same  London  house  where  I  was  lodging. 


1837-1849  63 

and  I  sent  at  once  a  letter  of  introduction  which  Uncle  Arnold  Buf- 
fum  had  furnished  me.  The  following  morning  I  met  her  at  her 
breakfast  table,  in  company  with  Eliza  Kirkbride.  [This  lady  was 
from  Philadelphia,  and  afterwards  married  J.  J.  Gurney.]  Although 
several  years  a  member  of  our  society,  Amelia  Opie  has  not  effaced 
all  traces  of  her  fashionable  life.  Her  dress,  though  quite  plain  in 
its  shape,  is  put  on  with  a  showiness  of  manner  not  so  conspicuous 
in  those  who  have  birthright  membership.  This  effect  is  heightened 
by  her  gold  watch,  and  is  perfected  by  a  peculiar  grace  of  manner. 
To  her  I  am  indebted  for  an  introduction  to  Samuel  Gurney,  at 
whose  table,  in  company  wath  her,  I  first  met  Elizabeth  Fry.  This 
Avas  the  last  day  I  saw  Mrs.  Opie.  She  bade  me  farewell  with  the 
remark,  "  I  hope  I  have  launched  thee  well." 

Reginald  Heber,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  when  he  went 
to  hear  I\Irs.  Fry  in  Newgate  in  1S20,  described  her  as  "a 
Quaker,  the  wife  of  a  merchant  in  the  city  who  some  two 
years  ago  obtained  with  difficulty  permission  to  attempt  the 
reformation  of  the  female  prisoners."  Her  brother-in-law,  Sir 
Fowell  Buxton  (who  did  not  receive  his  baronetcy  until  after 
Dr.  Earle's  first  tour  in  Europe),  had  occasion,  twenty  years 
after  Bishop  Heber's  visit,  to  call  on  the  same  day  upon  the 
Secretary  of  State  in  Downing  Street  and  upon  the  Gurneys  in 
their  counting-houses ;  and,  finding  the  ministry  niggardly  in 
fitting  out  the  Niger  expedition,  which  his  Quaker  kinsmen 
liberally  aided,  he   exclaimed  :  — 

Well,  I  go  into  the  City,  and  I  see  brokers  who  behave  like  princes. 
I  come  back  to  Downing  Street,  and  see  princes  who  behave  like 
brokers. 

The  Gurneys,  of  Normandy,  under  the  name  of  De  Gournay, 
were  indeed  princes  in  the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror,  and 
sent  several  of  their  name  to  assist  him  in  his  victory  at 
Hastings,  after  which  they  established  the  English  barony  of 
Gournay,  and  left  their  name  at  Barrow-Gurney  in  Somerset 
and  several  other  English  places.  But,  in  the  time  of  George 
Fox,  one  of  their  descendants,  John  Gurney,  citizen  and  cord- 
wainer  of  Norwich,  was  sent  to  prison  for  three  years  (16S3)  for 


64  THE    GURNEYS    OF    EARLHAM 

espousing  Fox's  Quaker  principles.  His  son  John,  in  Sir 
Robert  Walpole's  day,  "by  his  celebrated  extempore  speeches, 
February,  1720,  before  the  Honorable  House  of  Commons, 
turned  the  scale  of  the  convention  between  the  woollen  and 
linen  manufacturers,  being  the  weavers'  advocate."  He  was 
himself  a  woollen  manufacturer ;  and  his  eloquence  was  com- 
memorated by  an  engraved  portrait,  over  which  Addison's 
"  Britannia "  leans,  smiling,  and  points  to  the  Latin  motto, 
"  Concedat  Lmirea  Lingncsy 

A  grandson  of  the  prisoner,  and  nephew  of  the  woollen 
merchant,  John  Gurney,  of  Keswick,  had  a  son  John,  who 
married  a  descendant  of  Penn's  friend  Robert  Barclay  of  Uri 
(Catharine  Bell),  and  became  the  owner  of  the  estate  of  Earl- 
ham  Hall,  near  Norwich,  where  the  Gurneys  were  born  or 
brought  up  whom  Dr.  Earle  knew.  They  were  connected  by 
blood  or  marriage  with  the  Barclays,  who  succeeded  to  the 
great  brewery  of  Dr.  Johnson's  friend  Thrale ;  with  the  Pease 
family  of  Darlington,  and  the  Backhouse  family  of  the  same 
Yorkshire  town  (Hannah  Backhouse,  often  named  by  Dr.  Earle, 
being  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Fry)  ;  and  with  others  of  the  wealthy 
and  politically  powerful  Quakers  of  London  and  the  provinces. 
Mary  Anne  Galton  (afterwards  Mrs.  Schimmelpenninck)  was 
another  cousin  ;  and  Opie,  the  painter,  who  married  the  daughter 
of  Dr.  Alderson,  the  popular  physician  of  Norwich,  belonged  to 
the  Quaker  circle,  though  neither  he  nor  Mrs.  Opie  was  at  first 
a  Quaker.  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Fry)  was  the  eldest  of  the  Gurney 
sisters  of  Earlham  ;  and  Samuel  was  the  youngest  brother,  born 
in  1786,  and  early  admitted  into  the  banking  house  of  his 
brother-in-law,  Joseph  Fry,  who  married  Elizabeth  Gurney  in 
1800.  He  was  a  "  plain  Quaker,"  not  very  attractive  in  person 
or  manners,  but  well  educated,  and  with  a  talent  for  making 
money,  which  nearly  all  the  Quaker  circle  had.  His  father, 
William  Fry,  had  a  fine  house  at  Plashet,  near  London ;  but 
Joseph  and  his  wife  long  lived  at  St.  Mildred's  Court  in  London, 
where  Samuel  lived  with  them  until  his  marriage  with  another 
cousin,  Elizabeth  Shepherd,  of  Ham  House,  near  Plashet,  which 
in  time  became  his  own  property.  Fowell  Buxton,  not  yet  a 
Quaker,  had  married  Hannah  Gurney,  the  sister  of  Samuel  and 


1837-1849  65 

Joseph  John,  in  1807,  Samuel  married  in  1808,  and  Joseph  John 
(who  also  married  a  second  cousin)  in  18 17. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  Louisa  Gurney  had  married  a  London 
banker,  Samuel  Hoare  (distantly  related  to  the  Hoar  family  of 
Concord,  Mass.),  and  while  Joseph  John  had  been  studying 
Greek  and  Hebrew  with  a  private  tutor,  Samuel,  hardly  of  age, 
had  become  an  important  member  of  the  rising  firm  of  Overend, 
Gurney  &  Co,  in  Lombard  Street.  As  the  children  of  these  va- 
rious marriages  grew  up,  they  formed  other  connections.  Some 
of  the  Quaker  circle  entered  Parliament,  others  went  on  mis- 
sions to  different  countries,  and  Mrs.  Fry,  the  most  distin- 
guished of  them  all,  had  made  herself  known  throughout  the 
world  by  her  labors  in  prisons.  It  will  be  interesting  to  see 
how  she  was  viewed  by  Bishop  Heber,  then  rector  of  his  native 
parish  of  Hodnet  in  Shropshire,  when  she  first  began  this 
work  at  Newgate  :  — 

She  is  now  [June,  1820]  assisted  by  a  numerous  committee  of 
ladies,  and  governs  the  women's  side  of  Newgate  with  full  authority. 
We  found  her  in  a  room  where  she  was  expecting  her  flock  to  come 
together  for  prayers,  and  I  was  greatly  struck  both  by  her  and  them. 
She  is  a  tall,  well-looking  woman  of  forty-five,  has  no  pretensions  to 
eloquence,  but  is  the  best  reader  I  ever  heard,  with  a  voice  of  perfect 
music.  She  read  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  and  one  of  the 
penitential  psalms,  and  then  said  a  few  words  of  advice  to  the  poor 
women  before  her,  who  listened  with  deep  attention  and  some  of 
them  with  tears.  .  .  .  You  will  ask  to  what  I  attribute  Mrs.  Fry's 
great  power  over  such  beings  as  these.  Partly,  I  conceive,  it  arises 
from  the  contrast  between  her  and  any  human  being  whom  these 
poor  wretches  have  ever  seen  before,  partly  from  the  immediate 
temporal  advantages  which  she  has  it  in  her  power  to  bestow,  the 
clothes  and  comforts  of  which  she  is  the  dispenser,  and  the  mitigation 
of  punishments  which  she  has  in  some  instances  obtained  for  them 
from  Lord  Sidmouth,  Still,  much  must  be  ascribed  to  her  own  calm- 
ness, good  sense,  and  perseverance,  her  freedom  from  all  enthusiasm 
or  vanity,  and  her  not  expecting  too  much  at  first  from  either  con- 
victs or  magistrates.  Yet  there  are  a  set  of  men  who  cannot  bear 
that  anybody  should  do  good  in  a  new  way,  who  absolutely  hate  Mrs. 
Fry ;  and,  when  I  was  at  Oxford,  I  had  to  fight  her  battles  repeatedly 


66  THE    ENGLISH    QUAKERS 

with  persons  whom   that  arch-bigot,  Sir   William    Scott,  had   been 
filling  with  all  possible  prejudice  against  her.* 

Persecution  and  ridicule  had  been  the  lot  of  the  Quakers  in 
England  during  the  first  century  and  a  half  of  their  existence 
as  a  sect ;  but  with  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  a 
better  era  had  dawned.  Dr.  Fothergill,  the  good  physician,  the 
friend  of  Franklin  and  of  all  mankind,  who  died  in  1780,  and 
many  other  Quakers  had  shown  such  a  talent  for  success  (which 
the  English  value  above  most  men),  as  well  as  so  many  of  the 
national  virtues,  that  it  was  impossible  not  to  respect  them. 
Even  in  the  humbler  callings  their  piety  and  benevolence  had 
won  the  good  will  of  persons  who  could  not  understand  either 
their  doctrines,  their  modesty,  or  their  scruples.  Wordsworth's 
Westmoreland  friend,  Thomas  Wilkinson,  who  tilled  his  own 
farm  with  the  spade  which  the  poet  celebrated  in  verse,  and 
who  walked  the  three  hundred  miles  from  the  Lakes  to  London 
(calling  on  "Edmund  and  Jane  Burke"  at  Beaconsfield,  on  the 
way)  to  attend  the  Yearly  Meeting,  was  one  of  these.  Charles 
Lamb,  whose  humorous  eye  caught  both  the  charming  and  the 
laughable  traits  of  the  society,  said  of  this  yearly  gathering :  — 

Every  Quakeress  is  a  lily;  and  when  they  come  up  in  bands  to 
their  Whitsun  conferences,  whitening  the  easterly  streets  of  the  me- 
tropolis, from  all  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom,  they  show  like  troops 
of  the  Shining  Ones. 

When  Esther  Maud,  the  wife  of  William  Tuke,  of  York,  the 
founder  of  rational  care  for  the  insane  in  England,  knocked  at 
the  door  of  the  London  Yearly  Meeting  in  1784,  and  with  her 
feminine  comrade  made  the  first  appearance  of  women  in  these 
London  gatherings,  the  exalted  clerk,  who  presided,  said  in  his 
heart :  "  What  wilt  thou,  Queen  Esther,  and  what  is  thy  re- 
quest ?  It  shall  be  even  given  thee  to  the  half  of  the  kingdom." 
Her  request  was  for  a  "Women's  Yearly  Meeting,"  and  it  was 
at  once  granted  :  hence  the  throng  of  Quakeresses  whom  Lamb 

"From  "Bishop  Heber,  Poet  and  Chief  Missionary,"  etc.,  by  George  Smitli  (London,  John 
Murray,  1895.)  The  passage  cited  is  on  pages  73,  74.  Heber  was  the  half-brother  of  Walter  Scott's 
friend  Ricliard  Heber,  0/  Hodnet.  His  sister  Mary  married  Rev.  Charles  Cholmondeley,  father  of 
Thoreau's  friend,  Thomas  Cholmondeley. 


1837-1849  67 

noticed,  and  among  whom  the  susceptible  young  American  now 
found  himself, —  sometimes  rambling  with  them  in  the  gardens 
at  Upton,  which  Dr.  Fothergill  had  planted,  or  visiting  the 
great  Ackworth  School,  which  the  same  benevolent  physician 
had  endowed. 

Luke  Howard  had  been  a  London  chemist,  and  the  partner 
at  Plough  Court  of  William  Allen,  the  philanthropist.  Both 
were  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Society,  at  that  time  a  great  dis- 
tinction. Howard  was  a  meteorologist,  as  Dr.  Fothergill  had 
been.  He  wrote  a  book  on  the  climate  of  London,  in  which 
Fothergill  had  been  the  first  to  publish  a  record  of  the  weather. 
Howard's  country  home  was  at  the  villa,  near  Ackworth,  fresco- 
painted  by  an  Italian  artist,  and  hospitably  served  by  Maria 
Bella,  an  Italian  cook,  who  ten  years  before,  in  1828,  had 
served  the  fever  patients  at  the  Friends'  School  with  delicacies 
from  her  kitchen.  At  the  same  period  Luke  Howard  broke 
up  the  week-day  religious  meeting  at  the  school  with  the  re- 
mark, "  Under  present  circumstances  I  think  the  children 
ought  to  have  shorter  meetings  and  more  generous  diet."  This 
made  him  very  popular  at  the  school.  When  Dr.  Earle,  in 
1837,  visited  Ackworth,  Hannah  Richardson,  of  York,  who  had 
long  lived  with  the  New  York  Quaker,  Lindley  Murray,  at 
Holdgate,  near  York,  had  been  for  two  years  governess  of  the 
girls'  department.  "  She  was  the  most  unselfish,  disinterested 
character  I  ever  knew,"  wrote  one  who  was  a  schoolmistress 
under  her.  "She  is  before  me  now,  with  her  kindly,  smiling 
face,  in  her  Friendly  attire,  with  her  erect  form  and  somewhat 
measured  step.  Wherever  we  were,  even  if  going  out  to  dinner 
at  a  quarterly  meeting  "  (perhaps  at  S.  Gurney's),  "  to  houses 
where  footmen  stood  behind  our  chairs  (so  different  from  our 
school  life),  we  were  sheltered  behind  her,  our  pioneer,  to  whom 
we  looked  up  with  unmixed  confidence  and  respect,  mingled 
with  deep  love.  She  once  told  me  that,  if  she  could  have  but 
two  books,  they  must  be  the  Bible  and  Thomas  a  Kempis." 
She  was  ever  active.  "I  will  just  step  over  to  Pontefract," 
she  would  say,  before  setting  off  four  miles  to  that  old  town, 
where  another  Quaker  grew  licorice  to  manufacture  into  "  Pom- 
fret  Cakes "  for  colds  and  couo-hs. 


68  THE    QUAKER    SCHOOL    AT    ACKWORTH 

A  general  meeting  was  held  at  Ackworth  for  a  week  in  July 
each  year,  and  was  a  yearly  holiday.  Dr.  Earle  was  present  at 
this  meeting  in  1837,  near  the  close  of  July,  and  assisted  as  a 
member  of  the  committee  to  examine  the  boys,  the  girls  being 
examined  only  by  a  committee  of  women.  The  treasurer  of  the 
school  was  then,  and  for  long  after,  Samuel  Gurney ;  and  thither 
came  the  other  Gurneys  and  their  connection,  also  the  Tukes, 
of  York,  the  Pease  brothers,  John  and  Joseph  (the  latter  the 
first  Quaker  M.P.),  and  that  fiery  young  Quaker,  John  Bright, 
whom  Dr.  Earle  afterwards  met.  Dr.  Earle  was  struck  with 
the  simplicity,  even  to  rudeness,  of  the  boarding-school  arrange- 
ments. Writing  before  the  modernization  of  the  school,  in 
consequence  of  the  efforts  of  James  Tuke  and  others,  he  said  to 
his  sister  Eliza,  herself  a  successful  teacher :  — 

The  examination  here  is  not  so  interesting  as  that  in  Providence, 
since  the  higher  branches  are  not  much  studied,  from  the  fact  that 
none  are  permitted  to  stay  after  the  age  of  fifteen.  The  present 
number  is  about  three  hundred ;  and  there  are  more  girls  than  boys, 
I  think.  They  dress  almost  exclusively  in  uniform,  the  clothing 
being  made  by  a  tailor  and  a  seamstress,  who  are  here  constantly 
employed.  The  food  of  the  scholars  is  much  more  simple  than  that  in 
American  schools,  and  the  table  is  set  in  a  style  that  would  hardly  be 
tolerated  by  our  republican  pupils.  Wooden  trenchers  and  tin  cups, 
which  appeared  as  if  taken  from  the  ruins  of  Noah's  ark,  and  from 
each  of  which  cups  four  persons  drink  at  meals,  form  the  chief  table 
furniture.  Yet  the  scholars  look  as  robust  as  a  regiment  of  Green 
Mountain  boys.  The  other  accommodations  are  very  good,  and  the 
discipline  apparently  mild  and  efficient.*  The  buildings  are  arranged 
on  three  sides  of  a  square.  The  court,  or  green,  thus  partially  en- 
closed is  divided  by  a  flagged  walk,  the  eastern  half  of  the  yard 
being  occupied  by  the  boys,  and  the  western  by  the  girls  as  their 
playground.     Brothers  and  sisters,  also  cousins,  have  the  privilege  of 

•  It  was  not  always  thus.  When  Thomas  Pumphrey,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  boys  from  1835 
onward,  was  in  his  first  week  at  Ackworth,  he  made  this  entry  in  his  diary:  "  Examined  the  records 
of  caning, —  a  very  humiliating  vohime.  It  carries  its  own  refutation  with  it  as  to  tlie  good  effects  of 
such  punishments, —  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  inflictions  in  a  year,  of  whicli  half  the  number  have 
been  upon  eight  boys,  varying  from  three  to  twenty-four  times  in  the  year.  My  mind  is  greatly 
pained  by  the  perusal."  The  records  of  other  schools,  including  the  most  famous  in  England,  would 
have  pained  the  good  Thomas  still  more,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  memoirs  of  tlie  period,  and  for  long 
afterwards.    There  was  less  of  this  discipline  in  the  American  Friends'  schools. 


1837-1849  ^9 

meeting  at  any  time  upon  the  dividing  walk.     It  is  remarked  as  a 
curious  fact  that  nearly  all  the  scholars  are  related  to  each  other. 

Dr.  Earle  did  not  visit  Ackworth  when  again  in  England  in 
1849,  so  far  as  his  letters  show.  He  met  Samuel  Gurney  and 
many  of  his  old  Quaker  friends  ;  but  Joseph  John  Gurney  had 
died  in  1847,  ^^^  Samuel  Gurney  did  not  remember  him. 
John  Bright  had  by  this  time  become  an  active  politician,  con- 
spicuous for  the  part  taken  by  him  in  the  Corn-law  repeal,  in 
which,  at  first,  the  wealthy  Quakers  did  not  much  sympathize. 
Speaking  of  the  Ackworth  General  Meeting  of  1846,  Mrs.  Ann 
Ogden  Boyce  says  :  — 

The  presence  of  John  Bright  was  not  always  a  source  of  un- 
mingled  gratification.  What  had  they  done, —  those  gentle,  soft- 
voiced  people, —  who  never  imputed  a  motive,  passed  a  hasty  judg- 
ment, or  made  a  rash  promise, —  who  wrapped  up  their  censure,  even, 
in  elaborate  sentences  of  long  Latinized  words,  who  were,  above  all 
things,  peacemakers, —  that  from  their  midst  should  come  a  young 
man  whose  short  words  smote  like  sledge-hammers  ?  who  never 
"believed  "  nor  "  hoped"  nor  "trusted,"  but  was  always  quite  sure 
he  was  in  the  right,  w^ho  treated  some  leading  Friends  with  no  more 
reverence  than  he  would  have  treated  a  bishop,  and  who  spoke  of 
some  Quaker  institutions  with  little  more  respect  than  of  the  House 
of  Lords  !  The  young  "  Tribune's  "  physique,  his  resolute  carriage, 
the  head  thrown  defiantly  back,  the  sensitive  mouth  set  firmly,  may 
have  resembled  Friends  of  the  seventeenth  century,  but  not  those  of 
the  nineteenth. 

How  well  Mrs.  Opie,  novelist  and  late-made  Quakeress,  had 
launched  the  attractive  young  American,  may  be  judged  by 
these  notes  from  his  English  diary  of  1837,  revealing  a  con- 
tinual round  of  dinners,  teas,  and  Quaker  meetings  in  the  first 
month  of  his  residence  in  the  island,  where  he  had  planned  to 
tarry  but  two  weeks  on  his  way  to  Paris,  and  where  he  lingered 
four  months  :  — 

May  27,  1837. —  Dined  with  Richard   Beck.     J.  J.  Lister  present. 
May  28. —  Meeting   at    Stoke  Newington.     Dined  with    Richard 
Beck  at  his  country  seat. 


70  ENGLISH    DIARY    OF    DR.    EARLE 

June  4. —  At  the  meeting  in  Plaistow,  Essex.  Dined  at  Samuel 
Gurney's.  Evening  meeting  at  Devonshire  House,  Bishopsgate, 
London  (the  Quaker  headquarters  in  the  city).  Returned,  and  spent 
the  night  at  S.  Gurney's. 

June  5. —  To  town  (from  Upton)  in  the  gig  with  S.  Gurney.  Yes- 
terday, at  the  Plaistow  meeting,  Elizabeth  Robson  preached.  The 
evening  meeting  at  Devonshire  House  was  appointed  by  J.  J.  Gur- 
ney, who  was  soon  going  to  America.  Opened  with  prayer  by 
E.  Fry,  followed  by  a  sermon  of  J.  J.  Gurney,  then  prayer  by 
W.  Ball,  and  sermon  by  Hannah  Backhouse,  closing  with  prayer 
by  J.  J.  G. 

Samuel  Gurne}^  lives  at  Ham  House,  formerly  occupied  by  Dr. 
Fothergill,  the  gardens  of  which  were  set  under  the  direction  of  that 
celebrated  physician.  It  is  five  miles  from  town.  Many  rare  and 
curious  exotic  shrubs  are  in  the  gardens,  still  flourishing  among  the 
trees. 

Jime  6. —  Last  week,  as  I  was  walking  through  Houndsditch,  a 
tap  on  the  shoulder  caused  me  to  look  rovmd.  I  recognized  a  per- 
son whom  I  had  met  at  dinner  a  few  days  before  (at  Richard  Beck's). 
"I  understand  you  are  an  American."  "Yes."  "Well,  if  you'll 
come  to  my  house  at  Isleworth,  and  spend  a  week,  with  such  accommo- 
dations as  I  can  furnish,  I  shall  be  glad  of  your  company."  I 
thanked  him.  "  No,  no,  no  thanks.  I  shall  only  be  paying  old 
debts.  I  know  what  it  is  to  receive  hospitality  in  a  foreign  country. 
I  am  an  old  sailor,  and  my  habits  stick  to  me.  I  do  things  and  say 
things  in  a  straightforward  manner.  I  live  in  a  little  cottage, —  a 
widower  with  one  son,  a  little  boy.  Now  you  know  what  to  expect 
when  you  come."  So  to-day  I  took  an  omnibus  ;  and,  going  through 
Brentford  to  Islesworth  (a  village  on  the  Thames  near  Richmond 
Hill,  about  fifteen  miles  above  London  Bridge),  I  found  my  friend,  a 
brother  of  Richard  Beck,  living  in  a  house  large  enough  to  supply 
a  parlor,  sitting-room,  library,  wash-room,  kitchen,  etc.,  on  the  ground 
floor,  with  a  view  of  the  gardens, —  one  of  the  prettiest  places  of  the 
kind  I  have  seen.  And  here  Edward  Beck  lives,  in  what  he  calls 
very  humble  style,  spending  an  income  of  $6,000  a  year.  Here  I 
passed  a  week  or,  more  exactly,  eight  days,  during  which  I  drank 
tea  and  spent  an  evening  with  Charles  Allen,  a  Friend  retired  from 
business,  with  a  family  of  five  boys  and  girls. 

June  14. —  A  monthly  meeting  to-day  about  a  mile  from  Edward 
Beck's.     At  dinner  his  table  was  filled  with  friends  belonging  to  the 


1837-1849  71 

meeting,  but  living  at  some  distance,  among  them  John  Hull,  author 
of  a  philanthropic  work  on  the  poor  and  a  zealous  advocate  of  total 
abstinence.  He  was  about  to  attend  a  temperance  meeting  at  Wind- 
sor, fifteen  miles  further  west,  and  requested  me  to  go  with  him. 
When  I  declined  on  account  of  previous  arrangements,  he  added 
the  inducement  of  promising  to  take  me  to  the  grave  of  William 
Penn,  at  Stoke  Park.     I  finally  accepted. 

June  x^. —  At  the  Windsor  meeting  a  Mr.  Greenbank,  who  had 
spent  twelve  years  in  America,  held  forth ;  and  also  another  gentle- 
man from  Lancashire,  who  spoke  Englishly,  but  is  uneducated.  He 
"  'oped  and  troosted  that  hall  would  koom  forward  and  join  the  tem- 
perance society."  In  Mr.  G.  I  recognized  the  gentleman  opposite 
whom  1  rode  from  Manchester  to  Birmingham,  who  suspected  me  to 
be  an  American  from  the  crooked  handle  of  my  umbrella,  and  asked 
if  my  name  was  not  Earle,  from  my  resemblance  to  brother  Thomas, 
whom  he  knew  in  Philadelphia. 

June  16. —  At  John  Hull's,  who  gave  me  some  autographs,  among 
them  a  letter  from  Lady  Byron. 

June  19. —  I  rode  to  Croydon,  ten  miles  south  of  London,  on  the 
road  to  Brighton  (Brighthelmstone),  dining  there  with  Peter  Bed- 
ford. After  dinner  we  visited  the  Croydon  boarding-school  for  boys 
and  girls,  one  of  several  such  Friends'  schools  in  Great  Britain. 
It  is  pleasantly  situated,  with  highly  cultivated  gardens,  divided  by 
some  of  the  hedges  which  make  England,  in  its  most  luxurious  dis- 
tricts, seem  a  paradise.  The  idea  of  gravel  walks  at  this  school 
seems  not  to  have  excited  so  much  ridicule  as  it  did  at  the  Friends' 
School  in  Providence,  when  John  Griscom  suggested  one  in  the  front 
grove.  This  Croydon  school  is  limited  to  eighty  boys  and  seventy 
girls,  and  is  always  full,  mainly  with  those  unable  to  pay  for  an  ex- 
pensive education,  and  patronized  by  the  wealthy  only  so  far  as  to 
prevent  the  children  from  feeling  that  pur  society  separates  the 
"  precious  "  from  the  "vile,"  and  that  they  are  among  the  latter. 
We  called  at  two  other  places,  and  met  at  one  of  them  John  Barclay, 
descended  from  Barclay  of  the  "  Apology,"  and  himself  an  author  of 
some  note.  Took  tea  with  William  Frith,  another  old  bachelor,  Uke 
Peter  Bedford,  retired  from  business,  and  living  with  a  sister  and 
two  nieces  in  one  of  those  thousand  villas,  near  London,  that  bloom 
under  a  perfect  cultivation. 

June  23,  Friday. —  Met  Elizabeth  Fry  at  Newgate  Prison. 


72  THE  GURNEYS  AT  HAM  HOUSE 

June  24. —  Took  the  coach  to  Upton,  five  miles  from  London. 
Called  at  Joseph  Fry's  (husband  of  Elizabeth),  and  saw  him,  but  not 
his  wife.  Dined  at  Ham  House.  After  dinner  walked  through  the 
grounds  of  S.  Gurney,  with  him  and  his  family  and  the  wife  and  two 
daughters  of  J.  J.  Lister.  Mr.  Gurney  has  one  hundred  tons  of  hay 
now  cut  and  out.  Many  men  and  women  were  making  it.  Day 
after  to-morrow  (June  26)  the  children  are  to  give  a  haymaking 
party.     Spent  this  Saturday  night  at  Ham  House. 

Jtme  2t^,  Sabbath. —  The  Gurney  family  assembled  this  morning. 
Three  of  the  younger  children  read,  and  so  did  S.  Gurney.  The 
children  repeated  poetry.  At  the  Plaistow  meeting,  not  far  away, 
there  was  prayer  by  Mrs.  Fry,  and  sermon  by  Hannah  Backhouse. 
At  dinner,  with  her  and  her  brother  and  Eliza  Kirkbride  (at 
S.  Gurney's),  I  met  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton  and  his  son.  In  the  evening  I 
supped  with  J.  Fry.  At  table  were  his  wife,  a  daughter,  and  two 
sons.  Before  supper  we  walked  in  the  garden  and  grounds,  examin- 
ing the  flowers,  the  Jersey  cows,  and  an  old  pony.  After  supper 
Mrs.  F.  read  the  chapter  in  Luke  about  the  Pharisee  and  publican. 

Mrs.  Opie,  in  one  of  her  letters  of  1838,  gives  a  fuller  descrip- 
tion of  life  at  Ham  House  and  in  Upton  Lane,  near  by,  where 
Mrs.  Fry  then  lived.     She  says  :  — 

Monday  I  reached  a  dark-looking  house  in  Lombard  Street  —  Mr. 
Gurney's  house  of  business  — at  3.30  p.m.*  Going  upstairs,  I  found 
in  a  back  room  Mr.  Gurney,  two  young  ladies,  and  an  old  gentle- 
man, rather  crooked  and  odd-looking,  with  two  or  three  others. 
"  Truly  glad  to  see  thee,  my  dear,"  said  Mr.  Gurney.  An  hour's 
drive  brought  us  to  Upton  (Ham  House).  •'  How  does  my  little  gal 
do  ?  "  said  he  to  a  little  child  that  ran  out  to  meet  us  at  the  door. 
"  How  glad  I  am  to  see  thee  are  home,  Sam !  "  exclaimed  a  tall  lady 
with  white  hair,  coming  out ;  while  a  very  tall  gentleman  in  a  blue 
coat  with  gilt  buttons  (Fowell  Buxton)  called  from  behind,  "  And 
how's  the  king  of  London  and  all  the  princesses  this  morning  1 " 
One  would  have  thought  Mr.  Gurney  had  been  out  for  a  year,  by  all 
the  greetings ;  but  they  are  a  very  affectionate  family.  At  5.30  we 
assembled  in  the  drawing-room,  and  I  was  introduced  to  the  five 
daughters  and  son  and  several  guests.     I  went  in  to  dinner  with  Mr. 

•  This  was  the  business  house  of  Overend,  Gurney  &  Co.,  the  largest  discounting  house  in  the 
world  then.  It  had  grown  out  of  the  Norwich  business  of  Joseph  Smith  in  1806-7,  whose  clerk 
Overend  was. 


1837-1849  73 

Gurney,  who  placed  everybody  before  he  took  his  own  seat :  "  Fowell, 
sit  by  my  wife ;  Catherine  next ;  Prissy,  my  sweet,  by  Charles ;  the 
little  gal  by  me,"  etc.  The  evening  was  finished  by  a  supply  of  wine- 
glasses of  gruel. 

Tuesday  morning  we  were  all  summoned  into  the  dining-room  at 
8.30  by  the  ringing  of  a  great  bell,  when  Mr.  Gurney  read  a  chapter 
in  the  Bible.  Directly  after  a  tall  clergyman,  rather  lame,  made  his 
appearance,  having  come,  rather  to  the  surprise  of  everybody,  by 
one  of  the  mails.  The  only  introduction  I  had  was,  "  Francis,  thee 
knows  Amelia," —  a  mistake,  but  a  common  mode  of  introduction  at 
Upton.  Though  it  was  a  damp,  drizzly  morning,  we  all  went  to  the 
end  of  a  terrace  walk  in  the  garden, —  their  usual  practice  before 
breakfast.  "  Francis,"  said  Mr.  Gurney  at  breakfast,  "  I'll  give  thee 
five  pounds  for  Chenda's  schools,  if  thee  likes."  Meantime  it  was 
being  arranged  who  was  to  be  asked  to  that  day's  dinner ;  and  at 
least  three  notes  of  invitation  were  despatched,  and  the  answers  re- 
ceived, before  Mr.  Gurney  left  the  breakfast  table,  which  he  did  ten 
minutes  before  the  rest,  to  start  for  town.  They  seem  to  think 
nothing  of  giving  short  notice  at  Upton.  After  breakfast,  to  my 
surprise,  one  of  the  girls  ushered  me  into  my  bedroom  with :  "  We 
generally  separate  for  the  morning,  but  meet  at  twelve  to  read  with 
John  (the  invalid  brother).  Perhaps  thee'd  like  to  join  us."  I 
assented,  and  was  left  to  my  meditations  in  my  pleasant  room  over- 
looking the  front  door,  where  the  numerous  departures  and  arrivals 
amused  me  exceedingly.  I  came  down  at  twelve,  when  some  of  the 
party  settled  to  drawing,  others  to  working,  while  their  brother  read 
to  them.  Luncheon  —  a  famous  hot  meal,  at  one  —  put  a  final  end 
to  further  literary  pursuits.  All  the  afternoon  arrangements,  most 
various,  were  made  then. 

After  luncheon  Mrs.  Opie  was  taken  to  Mrs.  Fry's,  Upton 
Lane. 

I  found  her,  like  the  party  at  Ham  House,  quite  full  of  business. 
There  were  already  two  persons  to  speak  to  her  ;  but  she  kindly 
came  forward  to  speak  to  me,  and  introduced  me  to  one  of  the  per- 
sons as  master  of  a  coast-guard  station,  and  to  the  other  as  a  matron 
going  out  to  some  establishment  in  New  South  Wales.  She  was  so 
taken  up  with  this  matron  that  I  saw  little  of  her  till  the  carriage 
came  with  Mr.  Gurney,  who  called  out :   "  Oh,  I   must  go  speak  to 


74  THE    GURNEY    FAMILY 

Betsy.  Betsy,  here  are  these  letters.  Thee  must  do  so  and  so  with 
them:  do  thee  understand?"  ...  At  half-past-five  the  dinner-party 
assembled  at  Upton, —  a  seven-leaf  table.  ...  At  dessert  the  little 
girl  was  despatched  to  fetch  a  little  boy,  who  was  soon  perched  on 
grandpapa's  knee,  and  before  long  was  on  his  way  to  grandmamma, 
walking  along  the  table,  amid  exclamations  of,  "  Take  care  !  take  him 
off !  "  which  were  perfectly  unheeded ;  and  he  arrived  at  his  destina- 
tion safely.  In  the  drawing-room  three  kittens  are  generally  play- 
ing. A  parrot  named  Thomas  lives  on  a  tree  near  the  house ;  and 
there  are,  besides,  dogs,  doves,  and  canaries  without  end.  Nobody 
who  has  not  been  at  Upton  can  understand  its  pleasures  and  peculi- 
arities. 

Dr.  Fothergill,  who  had  laid  out  the  grounds  of  Ham 
House,  was  a  celebrated  physician,  contemporary  with  Dr. 
Erasmus  Darwin,  but  older,  and,  like  him,  fond  of  rare  plants 
and  trees  ;  a  Quaker  also,  and  one  who  practised  medicine  as 
much  from  philanthropy  as  for  gain.  Plashet  House,  where 
the  Frys  lived  before  their  loss  of  property,  was  near  Ham 
House,  both  being  in  Upton,  and  not  far  from  the  Quaker 
meeting  of  Plaistow.  The  old  home  of  the  Gurneys  at  Earl- 
ham  was  occupied,  after  his  father's  decease,  by  Joseph  John 
Gurney,  the  scholar  of  the  family ;  and  George  Borrow,  in 
"  Lavengro,"  has  given  a  picture  of  it  and  of  its  owner,  as  the 
strolling  author  saw  him,  when  fishing  one  day  on  his  grounds. 
The  misfortunes  which  overtook  the  banking  house  of  Over- 
end*  &  Gurney  did  not  come  until  after  the  death  of  Samuel 
Gurney,  in  1865. 

Of  Joseph  John  Gurney  many  notices  and  anecdotes  are 
given.  Mrs.  Ann  Ogden  Boyce,  a  kinswoman  of  the  Richard- 
sons  of  Cleveland,  England,  in  her  "  Records  of  a  Quaker 
Family"  (London,  1889),  says:  "One  of  a  family  of  brothers 
and  sisters  (children  of  John  Gurney  of  Earlham)  remarkable 
for  their  gifts  of  mind  and  person,  cultured,  prosperous,  and 

•One  of  the  founders  of  the  house  of  Overend  &  Gumey  was  Thomas  Richardson,  of  a  remark- 
able Quaker  family  in  the  county  of  Durham,  whose  sister  married  John  Overend  (born  1769,  died 
1832).  Overend  was  the  inventor  of  the  plan  of  charging  but  one  commission  on  bills,  and  converted 
John  Gumey  to  the  plan,  who  soon  sent  his  son  Samuel  to  join  the  new  firm  of  discount  and  bill 
brokers.  Overend  and  Richardson  were  both  clerks  in  banking  houses  at  tlie  time,  early  in  the 
present  century. 


1837-1849  75 

generous,  Joseph  John  Gurney  was  a  man  of  great  influence 
in  his  generation.  His  sweetness  of  nature  exhibited  itself  in 
a  manner  full  of  the  most  winning  courtesy  and  consideration 
for  the  feelings  of  the  humblest  and  youngest  person.  He 
walked  about  the  Ackworth  school  garden  like  a  prince,  sur- 
rounded by  his  loyal  subjects.  When  it  was  announced  that 
Joseph  John  Gurney  had  reached  the  school,  the  girls  gathered 
with  one  accord  upon  the  green,  clustering  round  him  like  a 
swarm  of  bees."  Mention  has  been  made  of  this  Ackworth 
school  when  Dr.  Earle  records  his  visit  there.  It  had  been  a 
provincial  branch  of  the  London  Foundling  Hospital,  but  was 
given  up  as  such,  and  was  purchased,  with  its  farm  and  fine 
stone  buildings,  by  Dr.  Fothergill  in  1777.  He  and  his  friends 
paid  ^35,000  for  what  had  cost  $85,000.  It  was  the  model  of 
other  Friends'  schools  in  England  and  America,  and  is  still  a 
flourishing  establishment. 

Of  Dr.  Fothergill  (born  17 12,  died  1780)  Dr.  Franklin  said, 
in  a  letter  to  another  Quaker  physician,  Isaac  Lettsom,  written 
from  Paris  while  Franklin  was  American  ambassador  there, 
after  his  friend's  death,  "  If  we  may  estimate  the  goodness  of 
a  man  by  his  disposition  to  do  good,  and  his  constant  endeav- 
ors and  success  in  doing  it,  I  can  hardly  conceive  that  a  better 
man  than  Fothergill  has  ever  existed."  His  portrait  was  painted 
by  Hogarth  at  a  time  when  Quakers  were  averse  to  sitting  for 
pictures. 

Among  all  these  English  Friends,  so  hospitable  and  so 
interesting,  there  was  one,  Joseph  John  Gurney,  of  whom  Dr. 
Earle  makes  little  mention,  because  he  had  been  moved  of  the 
spirit  to  visit  America,  a  little  after  the  young  American's  ar- 
rival in  England.  He  remained  on  our  continent,  visiting  the 
United  States,  Canada,  and  the  West  Indies,  until  after  Dr. 
Earle's  return  to  Philadelphia  in  1S39,  and  they  met  there  in 
1840;  but,  when  Dr.  Earle  made  his  second  visit  to  Europe,  in 
1849,  J.  J.  Gurney  was  dead.  He  was  the  most  learned  of  the 
whole  Quaker  Society  in  England,  and  one  of  the  most  ortho- 
dox, so  that  the  secession  of  Elias  Hicks  and  his  followers 
in  1828  had  given  him  great  concern;  and  his  visit  to  the 
United    States    had   for   its  objects    to    oppose    the    Hicksite 


76  THE    GURNEY    FAMILY 

Quakers,  and  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  enfranchisement  of 
the  slaves.  It  seems  that  nearly  or  quite  a  third  of  the  Ameri- 
can Quakers  had  separated  from  their  brethren,  following  the 
views  of  Elias  Hicks, —  chiefly  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Maryland ;  in  New  England  there  was  no  open  secession, 
though  the  opinions  of  Elias  were  probably  held  by  some  of  the 
Quakers  there ;  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  also,  no  seces- 
sion occurred.  Of  the  troubles  in  Philadelphia,  mention  has 
been  made  in  the  first  chapter.  Dr.  Earle  in  his  English  diary, 
presently  to  be  cited,  speaks  of  the  departure  of  J.  J.  Gurney 
for  America;  and  the  jocose  verses  circulated  at  the  Yearly 
IMeeting  (ascribed  by  some,  but  incorrectly,  to  Dr.  Earle  as 
their  author)  make  allusion  to  J.  J.  Gurney,  and  the  Eng- 
lish disputes  in  which  he  took  an  active  part.  The  diary 
goes  on  :  — 

Ju7ie  26,  1837. —  Rode  to  London  with  S.  Gurney,  after  spending 
the  night  at  his  house.  Visited  at  Jonathan  Backhouse's.  The  ill- 
ness of  his  sister  has  long  detained  them  near  London.  They  will 
leave  to-morrow  for  Liverpool,  whence,  July  8,  Eliza  Kirkbride  and 
J.  J.  Gurney  will  sail  for  Philadelphia.  Rode  in  the  afternoon  with 
J.  J.  Lister,  his  wife,  and  three  children,  to  his  house  at  Upton. 
He  lives  near  S.  Gurney's.  We  sat  up  till  midnight,  viewing  objects 
through  his  microscope. 

June  27. —  Quarterly  meeting  at  Plaistow.  At  2  p.m.  the  meeting 
adjourned  for  dinner,  and  met  again  at  five.  I  dined  at  Plough 
Court  with  a  son-in-law  of  William  Allen,  who  was  present,  and  also 
Robert  and  Josiah  Forster. 

June  28. —  Called  at  J.  Fry's,  where  Mrs.  Fry  gave  me  some 
autographs,  one  of  them  from  a  royal  princess.  To  London  with 
J.  J.  Lister. 

June  30. —  To  the  British  Museum.  My  stay  in  England  has  been 
unexpectedly  prolonged.* 

•Dr.  Earle,  late  in  life,  told  me  the  circumstance  which  enabled  him  to  spend  so  much  time 
travelling  in  the  three  kingdoms,  when  he  had  formed  a  Spartan  resolution  to  devote  himself  and  his 
small  property  to  the  completing  of  his  medical  education  in  Paris.  He  was  dining  one  day  with  a 
party  at  the  house  of  a  wealthy  English  Friend,  and  was  asked  by  one  of  the  company  how  long  his 
stay  in  England  would  be.  Dr.  Earle  named  some  brief  space,  adding  that  he  must  go  on  to  Paris 
and  take  up  his  studies  there.  "  Kut,"  said  his  friend,  "  you  are  not  seeing  enough  of  England  and 
Scotland:  you  ought  to  spend  the  summer  here."  "I  should  be  glad  to  do  so,"  said  the  young 
American,  "if  I  could  afford  it;  but  I  came  to  Europe  to  study,  and  must  deny  myself  the  pleasure." 


1837-1849  77 

July  I. —  I  go  to  Totteaham  to  spend  Sunday  with  Josiah  and 
Robert  Forster.     Dine  there  this  evening. 

July  2. —  At  the  Tottenham  meeting,  where  Anna  Braithwaite 
preached  from  the  text,  "  Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome 
evil  with  good."  Dined  in  company  with  her  and  her  daughter  at 
Josiah  Forster's.  Caroline  B.  is  very  spirituelle  and  quick  in  repar- 
tee.    I  have  often  been  tortured  by  the  arrows  of  her  wit. 

July  3. —  To  town  with  Robert  Forster,  where  I  supped  last  night. 

July  5,  6. —  Supped,  lodged,  and  breakfasted  with  George  Stacy 
at  Tottenham.  He  married  a  daughter  of  S.  Lloyd,  the  banker. 
Dined  at  John  Hodgkin's  with  Sir  Augustus  D'Este,  a  son  of  the 
Duke  of  Sussex.  G.  Stacy  resembles  President  Van  Buren.  I  told 
him  so,  thinking,  of  course,  it  would  be  a  compliment ;  but,  miseri- 
cordia  !  he  came  as  near  being  offended  as  would  answer  for  a  disciple 
of  George  Fox.  At  what  ?  At  the  idea  of  being  even  physically 
analogous  to  a  man  of  such  heterodox  opinions  on  the  slave  ques- 
tion as  Van  Buren  is.  His  wife  is  about  the  age  of  sister  Sarah 
Hadwen,  and,  like  her,  retains  the  appearance  of  "sweet  seventeen." 
Beside  her  sits  a  daughter  who  might  be  mistaken  for  a  younger  sister. 

July  II. —  Anti-slavery  meeting  at  Exeter  Hall.  The  Duke  of 
Sussex  presided,  led  in  by  William  Allen.  Joseph  Sturge  spoke  at 
much  length. 

July  13. —  Dined  with  Robert  Howard  at  Tottenham,  who  married 
another  daughter  of  S.  Lloyd.  Rode  with  him  to  Chingford  church. 
Took  tea  and  passed  the  night  at  Robert  Forster's. 

July  14. —  Breakfasted  with  Josiah  Forster  in  the  city,  and  back  at 
night  to  stay  at  R.  Forster's. 

The  next  day  Dr.  Earle  started  northward  on  the  Birming- 
ham Railway,  after  six  weeks  of  this  genial  Quaker  hospitality. 
The  character  of  his  entertainers  is  disclosed  by  their  names. 

Nothing  further  passed  at  the  moment ;  but,  when  they  rose  from  the  table,  this  Friend  took  Dr.  Earle 
aside,  and  said,  '  I  have  a  sum  of  money  which  is  at  thy  disposal  for  a  tour  in  England,  and  I  shall 
be  glad  to  have  thee  take  it."  "  But  I  cannot  repay  thee  at  present,  probably  not  for  some  years." 
"  Never  mind,"  was  the  answer :  "  I  will  trust  thee  until  thou  canst  pay."  The  offer  was  so  kindly 
made,  and  the  thing  to  be  done  —  to  make  the  acquaintance,  not  only  of  English  scenery  and  life,  but 
of  the  attractive  and  hospitable  English  Quakers,  who  invited  him  so  cordially  to  their  houses  —  was 
so  eminently  desirable,  that  it  was  accepted ;  and  some  years  after  this  the  loan  was  repaid.  The 
incident  seems  to  me  a  delightful  illustration  of  character  in  both  lender  and  borrower.  As  Emerson 
said  of  his  brother  Edward, — 

Prosperous  Age  held  forth  his  hand. 

And  freely  his  large  future  planned. 


78  ENGLAND    IN    1837 

They  were  the  most  wealthy  and  prominent  of  the  Friends 
about  London,  and  at  that  time  becoming  powerful  in  the  af- 
fairs of  Parliament  and  the  nation.  This  was  due  in  part  to 
their  riches,  but  much  more  to  the  active  share  taken  by  them 
as  a  sect  in  the  discontinuance  of  the  slave-trade  and  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  British  colonies ;  in  part,  also,  to  those 
personal  traits  which  made  William  Penn  and  some  of  his  con- 
temporaries influential  at  the  court  of  the  Stuart  kings.  The 
Gurneys  and  some  others  of  the  leading  Quakers  of  England  — 
notably,  William  Allen  and  Mrs.  Fry  (herself  one  of  the  Earl- 
ham  Gurneys) —  had  that  charm  of  manners,  along  with  sincerity 
of  conviction,  which  never  fails  to  please  an  aristocratic  circle. 
This  is  evident  enough  from  what  Dr.  Earle  says  of  them,  both 
in  England  and  afterwards  in  France,  where  he  met  Mrs.  Fry 
and  some  of  her  friends  in  the  following  winter.  He  was  a 
close  observer,  not  without  humor  ;  and  many  of  his  descrip- 
tions and  anecdotes  may  still  be  read  with  amusement.  Speak- 
ing of  the  stage-coaches  and  ta.verns,  he  says  :  — 

The  public  coach  of  the  English  is  a  model  of  compactness,  neat- 
ness, and  lightness,  drawn  by  large  horses,  elegant  in  form,  and 
handsomely  caparisoned,  the  brass  trimmings  of  their  harness 
glistening  in  the  sun,  when  that  happens  to  shine.  The  coachman 
is  a  portly  creature,  in  genteel  dress,  wearing  white-topped  boots  and 
white  gloves.  He  seldom  touches  his  whip  while  driving.  Ati  con- 
traire,  the  French  diligence  is  driven  by  a  small  man  in  a  blue  frock, 
over  which  in  cold  or  wet  weather  he  wears  a  curious  goatskin  gar- 
ment, dressed  with  the  hair  on  ;  and,  what  with  his  whip  and  his 
mouth,  he  keeps  up  a  continual  crack  and  chirrup  from  Calais  to 
Marseilles  and  from  Bordeaux  to  Strasbourg.  His  diligence  is  a 
lumbering  vehicle,  weighing  of  itself  from  one  to  two  tons,  and  some- 
times carrying  on  its  top,  at  least  a  ton  of  merchandise.  It  is  drawn 
by  small  horses,  harnessed  with  ropes,  and  driven  three  or  four 
abreast.  All  the  inns  in  England  of  any  importance,  and  some  that 
are  unimportant,  are  dignified  with  titles,  and  seldom  known  by  the 
name  of  the  landlord,  as  in  America.  I  saw  "The  Star  and  Garter," 
"  The  White  Horse,"  the  "  Cock  and  Castle,"  and  "The  Jolly  Butch- 
ers." One  near  Sheffield  is  called  "  The  Fiery  Dragon,"  and  its 
landlord  is  a  "  Tempest."     The  "  Bell  at  Edmonton  "  famous  in  John 


1837-1849  79 

Gilpin's  day,  still  exists ;  and  on  its  front  is  a  picture  of  Gilpin's  race, 
taken  at  the  moment  when 

The  dogs  did  bark,  the  children  screamed, 

Up  flew  the  windows  all. 
And  every  soul  cried  out,  "  Well  done  !  " 

As  loud  as  they  could  bawl. 

In  the  stage-coach  in  Derbyshire  I  found  myself  in  company  with 
two  very  intelligent  men,  a  Whig  and  a  Tory.  Party  politics  were 
running  high  ;  for  it  was  on  the  eve  of  the  election  of  members  to  the 
first  Parliament  of  the  youthful  Victoria,  whose  coronation  I  wit- 
nessed the  next  year.  In  the  discussion  I  made  a  remark  which  im- 
plied me  to  be  a  foreigner.  "  But,  surely,  you  are  an  Englishman  ?  " 
said  one  of  them.  "No,  I  am  an  American."  "Then  you  have  al- 
ways lived  in  England  ?  "  "I  have  only  been  in  your  country  six 
weeks."  "  But  you  must  have  been  educated  here."  "This  is  the 
first  time  I  have  ever  been  out  of  the  United  States."  "Indeed !  do 
all  the  Americans  speak  our  language  as  well  as  you  do?"  All  are 
not  such  in  England ;  for  one  damp  morning,  as  I  was  perambulating 
the  streets  of  Penrith,  wearing  my  camlet  cloak  and  overshoes,  and 
gazing  like  a  country  gawky  at  the  objects  about  me,  a  huckster- 
woman,  coming  up  to  me  with  a  courtesy,  said,  "  Pray,  sir,  are  ye  an 

American  ?  "     "  Yes."     "  Is  your  name  X ?  "     "  No  :  why  do  you 

ask,  and  why  think  me  from  America.-"'  "Why,  I  seed  ye  wears  a 
cloak,  and  there's  American  missionaries  in  Westmoreland  that  wears 
cloaks,  too  ;  an'  I  didna  know  but  ye  was  one  o'  them."  After  a 
pause  :  "  I  hope  ye'll  excuse  me  for  speakin'  to  ye.  I  didna  know  but 
ye  was  one  o'  them  missionaries,  and  wanted  a  place  to  board.  I 
hope  the  missionaries  will  succeed,  for  I  think  there's  more  moral 
darkness  in  Westm'rTn'  than  in  the  Indies." 

After  Edward  Beck  had  invited  me  (in  the  streets  of  London)  to 
make  him  a  visit  at  Islesworth,  he  went  home  and  told  his  sister, — 
for  he  has  no  wife, —  "Well,  I  have  invited  an  American  to  come 
and  spend  a  week  with  us."  "O  dear  brother,  how  could  thee?" 
"Because  I  think  it  will  be  pleasant  to  both  him  and  myself." 
"But," — and  she  spoke  as  if  ruin  were  likely  to  come  upon  their 
furniture, —  "  but  we  have  no  spittoons  in  the  house  !  Really,  I  hope 
he  won't  be  spitting  about  everywhere."  There  is  certainly  a  great 
difference  between  the  English  and  the  Americans  in  regard  to  this 


8o  ENGLAND    IN    1 838 

habit.  Absolutely,  I  have  no  recollection  of  having  seen  a  man  spit 
since  I  came  to  England,  unless  he  were  smoking.  Neither  have  I 
observed  any  chewing  tobacco.  There  is  a  vast  amount  of  pipe- 
smoking  among  the  lower  classes ;  but  cigars,  from  their  high  price, 
are  used  only  by  politicians.     They  are  the  Tories  of  Nicotiana. 

The  English  understand  the  true  philosophy  of  living  better  than 
we  Americans,  although  perhaps  they  drink  a  little  more  porter  and 
wine  than  is  best.  But  a  change  in  that  habit  is  rapidly  taking 
place.  Proselytes  to  the  doctrine  of  the  "teetotalers,"  as  they  are 
called  here,  are  made  almost  as  fast  as  to  the  anti-slavery  cause  in 
the  United  States.  There  was  a  discussion  on  the  subject  at  the 
Yearly  Meeting  in  May.  Many  remarks  had  been  made,  both  pro 
and  con,  when  one  of  the  assistant  clerks  of  the  meeting,  a  leading 
member  of  the  society,  arose.  He  said  he  must  acknowledge  that 
he  was  not  ready  to  unite  with  the  sentiments  of  some  who  had 
spoken.  He  was  fully  satisfied  that,  after  the  labors  of  the  day,  he 
had  often  experienced  great  invigoration  from  a  glass  of  porter,  and 
been  thereby  better  prepared  for  the  duties  of  the  evening.  No 
sooner  had  his  coat-skirts  touched  the  bench  than  a  Friend,  still 
higher  in  the  "  rising  seats  "  than  himself,  rose  to  clinch  the  nail 
which  the  brother  had  driven.  Imagine  a  Friend  of  seventy  years 
standing  in  the  gallery,  covered  by  a  real  primitive  tri-cocked  hat, 
and  leaning  upon  a  cane  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  juice  of  the 
grape,  with  an  earnestness  that  would  do  credit  to  some  of  the 
young  men  on  the  other  side  of  the  question.  Wine  is  set  upon  the 
table  by  a  much  greater  proportion  of  our  society  members  than  I 
had  supposed.  However,  they  rarely  drink  more  than  two  glasses, 
and  generally  but  one. 

It  has  been  my  pleasant  lot  (Sept.  g,  1837)  to  see  a  great  deal  of 
our  Society  of  Friends,  considering  the  short  time  I  have  been  in 
England,  and  much  of  the  best  society  among  them.  They  bring 
about  them  all  those  little  (as  well  as  great)  conveniences  and  com- 
forts which  so  much  conduce  to  the  luxury  of  living.  Their  social 
affections  are  cultivated,  if  possible,  to  an  objectionable  extreme.  I 
speak  not  from  my  personal  observation  alone,  but  from  the  testi- 
mony of  some  English  Friends  themselves.  I  lately  passed  an  even- 
ing with  Samuel  Tuke  (of  the  York  Lunatic  Retreat),  who  is  now  in 
London.  Our  conversation  turned  upon  lunatic  asylums,  insanity  in 
general,  the  predominance  of  that  disease  among  the  Friends,  and 


1837-1849  8i 

the  cause  of  such  preponderance.  Among  other  influences  tending 
that  way,  he  mentioned  the  extreme  cultivation  of  the  ties  of  consan- 
guinity, the  parental  and  fraternal  affections. 

This  is  the  first  intimation  given  in  the  young  doctor's  let- 
ters that  he  was  specially  considering  what  was  to  be  his  life- 
work  in  America  and  the  occasion  of  several  future  visits  to 
Europe.  But,  before  he  returned  home  in  1839,  he  had  in- 
spected many  of  the  European  asylums  then  existing ;  and  he 
reported  on  their  condition,  soon  after  his  return,  in  a  work 
which  first  drew  general  attention  to  the  European  specialty. 
Crossing  over  to  Ireland  in  the  summer  of  1837,  he  visited  an 
asylum  in  Dublin,  and  relates  this  incident :  — 

I  have  a  strong  inclination  to  wear  a  mask.  My  plain  Quaker 
coat,  although  in  a  land  of  Friends,  attracts  too  much  attention. 
September  8,  while  near  the  "  Bell  at  Edmonton,"  I  was  accosted 
thus  :  "  Excuse  me,  sir,  for  the  intrusion ;  but  I  am  a  poor  man  with 
a  family,  and  can  get  no  work,  else  I  would  not  beg.  If  you  will 
give  me  a  few  pence,  I  shall  be  very  much  obliged  to  you.  Pray, 
sir,  let  me  furn  down  the  collar  of  your  coat.''  He  suited  the  action 
to  the  word,  before  I  could  say  Jack  Robinson,  Passing  along  the 
wards  of  the  lunatic  asylum  at  Dublin,  we  met  a  patient  apparently 
very  happy.  "Well,  Tom,"  said  the  keeper  with  me,  "how  are  you 
to-day  ?  "  "  Oh,  illigant,  illigant,"  replied  the  maniac.  Then,  step- 
ping up  to  me,  he  asked,  "  Are  you  an  Englishman,  sir  ?  "  "I  came 
from  England."  "  Well,  I  Uke  the  EngUsh.  Why  t  Because  they 
give  a  fellow  a  bit  of  something  to  ate.  Let  me  fix  your  coat-col- 
lar," and  accordingly  gave  it  a  turn.  I  thanked  him,  and  pursued 
my  way. 

A  concise  review  of  his  first  English  experiences  was  given 
by  Dr.  Earle  in  this  letter  to  Mrs.  Spring,  of  Sept.  i,  1837, 
written  from  the  Isle  of  Wight :  — 

Dear  Cousin  Rebecca, —  Even  at  the  present  late  period,  I  have 
not  yet  seen  the  coast  of  la  belle  Frafice.  The  English  people 
and  the  English  scenery,  the  English  antiquities  and  institutions, 
have  presented  attractions  powerful  enough  thus  long  to  protract  my 


82  ENGLAND    IN    1837 

Stay  among  them,  in  this  thrice-blessed  yet  doubly  cursed  land.  I 
could  not  have  selected  a  more  desirable  season  to  be  in  Great  Brit- 
ain. The  weather  has  been  uncommonly  warm  and  dry  (though 
there  has  not  been  a  day  that  I  should  call  very  warm),  and  vegeta- 
tion remarkably  luxuriant.  The  many  changes  which  have  occurred 
in  the  royal  family,  and  the  consequent  dissolution  of  the  old  Parlia- 
ment and  election  of  the  new  one,  have  furnished  constant  subjects 
of  excitement  among  the  people,  and  enabled  me  to  see  more  of  a 
monarchial  government  as  it  exists  here  than  would  have  been  pos- 
sible under  ordinary  circumstances.  I  have  seen  the  queen  three 
or  four  times,  but  had  the  best  opportunity  of  studying  her  face 
while  she  was  on  her  way  to  the  House  of  Lords  for  the  purpose  of 
dissolving  Parliament,  The  royal  procession  on  that  occasion  was 
one  of  the  most  magnificent  displays  of  regal  splendor  ever  exhibited 
in  England.  And  the  head  and  heart  and  soul  of  the  whole  of  it 
was  that  little  girl  just  turned  of  eighteen.  Young  as  she  is,  she 
played  her  part  very  well. 

I  arrived  here  this  morning,  after  a  tour  of  more  than  fifteen  hun- 
dred miles  through  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Wales.  Loch 
Katrine  and  Loch  Lomond  (a  larger  and,  in  my  opinion,  a  more 
beautiful  lake)  were  the  places  farthest  north  that  I  visited.  I 
landed  and  spent  some  time  on  the  island  where  the  Lady  of  the 
Lake  landed  before  me.  Since  then  I  have  been  among  the  lakes 
in  England,  visiting  Windermere,  Derwent,  UUswater,  Thirlmere, 
Grasmere,  Rydal  Water,  and  Esthwaite  Lakes ;  passed  some  time  in 
rich  yet  poverty-stricken  Dublin  and  its  vicinity ;  ascended  Mt. 
Snowdon  in  North  Wales,  and  have  come  thence  to  the  Isle  of 
Wight.  I  have  been  in  London,  Liverpool,  Birmingham,  Man- 
chester, Leeds,  Sheffield,  Wakefield,  York,  Edinburgh,  Glasgow, 
Bristol,  Bath,  Oxford,  and  Cambridge,  besides  numerous  places  of 
minor  importance. 

I  found  in  Joseph  Sturge  a  very  agreeable  fellow-passenger.  He 
sat  at  my  right  hand  during  the  whole  passage  over.  When  in 
Birmingham,  I  visited  very  agreeably  at  his  house,  and  have  since 
met  him  several  times.  Since  his  return,  with  the  mighty  lever  of 
horrid  truth  which  he  brought  from  the  tropics,  he  has  moved  the 
whole  British,  nation.  You  will  have  heard  of  the  breakfast  given 
him  by  the  inhabitants  of  Birmingham,  and  the  exposition  which  he 
made  at  that  time ;  also  you  will  have  read  of  the  great  anti-slavery 


1837-1849  83 

meeting  at  Exeter  Hall,  at  which  the  Duke  of  Sussex  presided,  and 
J.  Sturge,  among  others,  addressed  the  audience.  I  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  being  present  then,  my  friend,  Robert  Forster,  having  given 
me  a  ticket  to  the  platform.  The  form  of  a  petition  on  behalf  of  the 
West  India  Apprentices,  to  be  addressed  by  the  women  of  Great 
Britain  to  their  queen,  was  adopted  at  that  time,  and  is  now  among 
the  people  for  signatures.  The  numbers  obtained  exceed  the  most 
sanguine  expectation  of  the  friends  of  the  negro.  It  will,  in  all 
probability,  exceed  the  renowned  petition  presented  to  Parliament 
by  T.  Fowell  Buxton,  before  the  passage  of  the  Apprenticeship  Bill, 
and  which  required  four  men  to  carry  it.  That  contained  but 
about  two  hundred  thousand  names.  It  is  hoped  that  in  this  there 
will  be  five  hundred  thousand.  In  the  city  of  Bristol  alone,  upwards 
of  thirty  thousand  (equal  to  about  one-third  of  the  population)  have 
already  been  obtained. 

In  Darlington  I  became  acquainted  with  Elizabeth  Pease,  a 
Friend  who  is  much  interested  in  anti-slavery,  and,  I  think,  a  cor- 
respondent of  either  Sarah  or  Angelina  Grimke.  ...  I  sincerely  re- 
gret that  A.  E.  Grimke  should  have  introduced  the  resolution  which 
awakened  the  discussion  upon  "  the  rights  of  women."  It  was  un- 
called for  and  unnecessary.  I  expect  to  retiirn  to  London  in  two  or 
three  days. 

As  this  letter  shows,  by  the  ist  of  September  Dr.  Earle  had 
visited  Edinburgh,  the  Scotch  Highlands,  Glasgow,  Dublin, 
Dumfries,  Hawthornden  of  the  Drummonds,  Gretna  Green, 
Carlisle,  Windermere,  and  other  places  of  note  in  Words- 
worth's country,  and  had  not  only  ascended  Snowdon,  but 

Climbed  the  dark  brow  of  the  mighty  Hellvellyn. 

Then,  returning  to  London,  he  sailed  down  the  Thames  on  his 
way  to  Boulogne  September  12,  and  in  two  days  more  was  in 
Paris  for  the  winter.  But  even  in  that  gay  and  studious  capi- 
tal he  was  not  yet  out  of  the  Quaker  circle  of  England.  In 
October  the  family  of  Samuel  Gurney  were  in  Paris  for  some 
days;  and  in  February,  1838,  Mrs.  Fry  and  her  husband,  with 
other  English  Friends,  held  meetings  in  Paris,  which  were 
largely  attended  by  English,  American,  and  French  people  of 
both  sexes.     Dr.  Earle  (February  18)  went  in  the  evening  to 


84  MRS.    FRY    IN    PARIS 

the  rooms  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Fry,  after  hearing  her  give 
elsewhere  "  the  best  sermon  I  have  ever  heard  from  her."  He 
then  says  :  — 

I  introduced  Dr.  Mott  and  his  daughter  to  Mrs,  Fry,  who  spoke 
of  receiving  a  letter  from  Richard  Mott,  twenty  years  before,  invit- 
ing her  to  America.  I  said  I  hoped  she  would  still  accept  the  invi- 
tation. Joseph  Fry:  "I  hope  she'll  consult  her  husband  about  it." 
I  replied  that  I  had  not  finished  my  remark, —  I  was  going  to  say, 
"  and  her  husband,  too."  He  said,  "  In  London,  if  you  buy  a  span 
of  horses,  you  generally  get  one  very  good  horse,  the  other  only  or- 
dinary." I  replied,  "And  sometimes  two  very  good  ones."  "Gen- 
erally," he  repeated,  "  an  ordinary  one  harnessed  with  a  good  one  to 
get  him  off."  Among  the  audience  at  the  sermon,  which  was  in 
English,  was  a  Frenchwoman,  of  whom  Mr.  Fry  asked  if  she  under- 
stood what  had  been  uttered.  "  Non,"  was  , her  answer,  "Je  n'ai 
pas  compris  les  mots;  mais  il  y  avait  quelque  chose  que  j'ai  senti, 
beaucoup,  dans  mon  cceur."  ("  Nay,  I  did  not  comprehend  the 
words  ;  but  there  was  something  which  I  deeply  felt  in  my  heart.") 

A  month  later  Robert  Ware  Fox,  of  Falmouth,  the  father  of 
Caroline  Fox,  was  in  Paris  with  his  daughters ;  and  Dr.  Earle 
met  them  frequently.  In  May  and  June,  1838,  he  was  again  in 
England,  and  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  them  and  with 
his  other  friends  among  the  English  Quakers.  Dr.  Earle  wrote 
home  that  he  was  "  enchanted  "  with  the  Foxes  ;  and  Caroline 
(whose  journals  were  published  not  long  after  her  death)  seems 
to  have  been  the  most  attractive  member  of  a  singularly  gifted 
family.  On  leaving  Paris,  he  made  this  entry  concerning  the 
final  result  of  the  labors  of  Mrs.  Fry,  Anne  Knight,  and  other 
English  Quakers  for  the  improvement  of  the  F"rench  prisons 
and  for  other  social  ameliorations  :  — 

While  Elizabeth  Fry  was  here,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  visit 
prisons,  composed  in  part  of  Catholics  and  in  part  of  Protestants. 
Religious  difficulties  soon  arose,  and  all  the  Protestant  members  re- 
signed and  withdrew.  There  is  ground  for  the  belief  that  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris  will  endeavor  to  undo  all  that  was  done  by  Mrs.  Fry, 
except  what  was  done  among  the  English  in  Paris. 


1837-1849  8s 

On  his  return  to  England  (Feb.  20,  1838),  Dr.  Earle  took 
lodgings  on  Queen's  Square,  near  the  British  Museum,  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  and  the  London  University,  all 
which  he  visited.  But  his  chief  interest  was  still  with  the 
members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  a  few  sketches  of  whom 
may  be  given,  with  the  events  therewith  connected  :  — 

Feb.  23,  1838. —  Called  at  John  Burrt's.  John  is  a  good-hearted, 
benevolent  man,  who  is  always  doing  something, —  if  not  otherwise 
occupied,  he  talks  ;  and,  if  you  wish  it,  he  will  do  all  the  talking. 
Like  many  of  the  English  Friends,  he  dresses  in  drab  small-clothes 
and  gaiters.  Dined  with  the  mother  of  Albert  Savory,  the  party 
consisting  of  his  mother,  sister,  two  brothers,  and  James  and  William 
Tuke,  sons  of  Samuel  Tuke,  of  York.  The  Savorys  live  at  Stam- 
ford Hill,  between  London  and  Tottenham ;  but,  like  all  Friends' 
famines  who  live  some  miles  away  and  have  business  in  the  city, 
they  have  a  table  -at  their  place  of  business,  where  they  dine, —  at 
least  during  Yearly  Meeting. 

February  23. —  Dined  and  passed  the  night  with  Edward  Beck,  at 
Islesworth,  with  whom  I  spent  eight  days  last  spring.  He  has  since 
married  Susan  Lucas,  a  highly  educated  young  woman.  It  was 
pleasant  again  to  meet  him.  He  is  a  man  of  little  reserve,  and 
speaks  frankly  what  he  thinks, —  can  perceive  the  faults  of  the 
English  as  well  as  of  the  Americans  or  any  other  people,  and  men- 
tions them  as  freely.  We  have  thoroughly  canvassed  the  manners 
and  customs  of  our  compatriots,  and  always  good-humoredly.  He 
was  never  displeased  by  any  of  my  remarks,  but  once  he  showed  a 
little  irritation  at  something  I  did  or  failed  to  do.  He  always  has  a 
variety  of  excellent  wines  on  the  dinner  table.  This  day  the  dessert 
consisted  in  part  of  wedding  cake.  When  it  was  brought  in,  I  had 
already  taken  as  much  wine  as  I  ought ;  but  with  this  cake  it  was 
verily  needful  to  take  a  little  more.  So  I  poured  a  half-glass,  say- 
ing, "  Excuse  me :  I  have  already  drunk  more  than  I  need."  In- 
stantly I  perceived  the  irritation  I  have  mentioned  (I  ought,  accord- 
ing to  common  courtesy  here,  to  have  filled  the  glass).  But  he  only 
said,  '*  Certainly :  thou  well  knows  I  have  always  given  permission 
to  do  as  thou  pleases." 

February  25. —  Returned  to  London  and  called  on  Joseph  Sturge 
to  get  a  ticket  of  entrance  to  Exeter  Hall,  to  a  meeting  of  such  as 


86  CAROLINE    FOX    AND    HER    FRIENDS 

favor  the  immediate  abolition  of  the  apprenticeship  of  the  emanci- 
pated negroes  in  the  colonies.  At  the  meeting  I  met  many  ac- 
quaintances,—  James  Webb,  at  whose  house  I  dined  in  Dublin, 
George  Thompson,  who  gave  me  items  of  news  from  America, —  the 
marriage  of  Angelina  Grimk^  to  Theodore  Weld,  for  example, — 
Frederick  Tucket,  an  extensive  traveller,  William  Smeat,  with  whom 
I  breakfasted  in  Glasgow,  etc.  Among  them  was  Elizabeth  Pease, 
of  Darlington,  and  a  daughter  of  Isaac  Braithwaite,  the  most 
beautiful,  be  it  said  in  passing,  of  all  the  young  Quakeresses  I  have 
met  in  England.  But  she  is  no  longer  a  true  Quaker  in  principle, 
though  still  a  member  of  our  society.  She  is  a  Tory,  regarding  the 
national  Church,  the  hereditary  peerage,  and  all  the  relics  of  feudal 
times  as  the  greatest  blessings  of  her  country.  (I  shall  long  remem- 
ber a  discussion  of  those  subjects  which  we  had  in  a  twilight  walk 
to  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  palace  near  Kendal.)  I  also  met  Anna 
Maria  and  Caroline  Fox,  the  two  daughters  of  R.  W.  Fox,  who  were 
in  Paris,  and  a  brother  of  theirs,  who  reminds  me  of  brother  William. 
The  two  young  ladies  are  amiable  and  full  of  vivacity,  not  hand- 
some (their  complexion  having  the  Spanish  tint),  but  with  that 
which  is  better  than  beauty  of  face, —  a  wealth  of  mind,  richesse  de 
Vesprit.     Caroline  is  very  spiritudle  and  quick  in  repartee. 

Exeter  Hall  was  my  dinner  this  day, —  beefsteak,  well  covered  with 
pepper,  brought  from  the  kitchen  of  Lord  Brougham,  a  ragout 
cooked  by  George  Thompson,  turtle  soup  served  by  Daniel  O'Con- 
nell,  and  entremets,  salads,  and  dessert  from  the  cookeries  of 
several  celebrated  members  of  the  bourgeoisie.  I  find  that  O'Connell 
is  not  liked  by  all  Friends,  although  they  are  very  glad  to  have  his 
powerful  assistance  in  the  cause  of  emancipation.  Against  the 
Roman  Catholics  the  Irish  Friends  appear  to  have  an  almost  impla- 
cable hatred. 

Sunday,  2'jih. —  At  the  meeting  in  Plaistow  we  had  sermons  from 
the  two  Elizabeth  Frys,  mother  and  daughter.  I  dined  at  Samuel 
Gurney's,  the  other  guests  being  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton,  with  his  beautiful 
daughter  Lucy,  Anna  and  Caroline  Fox,  Thomas  Pim,  of  Bristol, 
William  (Edward)  Forster,  Edward  Backhouse,  Jr.,  with  his  brother 
and  sister  Lucy, —  nephews  and  niece  of  Hannah  B.  The  party 
was  so  large  that  there  were  two  tables,  large  and  small,  the  latter 
for  the  younger  guests.  In  course  of  the  dinner  they  became  quite 
turbulent,  with  loud  talk  and  laughter.     T.  F.  Buxton  called  to  them 


1837-1849  8; 

in  a  very  loud  voice,  "  A  little  silence  there  !  a  little  silence  !  "  The 
Stentor  made  things  quiet  for  a  few  minutes.  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton  is 
hors  de  combat  on  the  apprenticeship  question,  having  been  per- 
suaded to  act  against  his  own  convictions  when  he  gave  his  voice 
in  favor  of  apprenticing,  and  for  the  payment  to  the  masters  of 
;^2o,ooo,ooo.  Since  then  he  has  been  silent  on  the  subject;  but  he 
is  still  himself, —  still  the  same  benevolent  man, —  his  philanthropic 
spirit  always  occupied  with  projects  for  the  good  of  mankind.  For 
some  months  he  has  been  investigating  the  slave-trade ;  and  he 
finds  that  the  number  of  negroes  carried  from  Africa  to  America  is 
now  twice  as  large  as  when  the  trade  was  abolished  in  England. 
The  number  of  men  killed  in  the  wars  to  obtain  these  slaves  aver- 
ages one  thousand  a  day. 

The  custom  of  English  ladies  to  leave  the  table  before  the  men  is 
still  kept  up,  even  among  some  Friends.  When  they  rose  to-day, 
S.  Gurney  said,  "  It  is  our  practice  to  let  every  person  go  where  he 
will  and  do  what  he  will  until  three  o'clock,  when  all  will  assemble  in 
the  parlor  to  read  the  Scriptures,"  it  being  between  meetings,  and 
hence  the  early  dinner  hour.  We  remained  at  table  but  a  few  min- 
utes ;  and  then  nearly  all  went  into  the  garden,  where  we  found  the 
young  ladies,  with  whom  we  promenaded,  and  went  to  the  deer 
park,  containing  but  twelve  or  fifteen  deer. 

I  took  tea  with  Joseph  Jackson  Lister,  who  last  year  showed  me 
wonders  with  the  microscope.  There  were  present,  besides  the 
children,  William  Aldham,  of  Leeds,  his  wife,  and  five  or  six  other 
guests.  I  was  obliged  to  answer  for  the  hundredth  time  such  ques- 
tions as  this:  "Is  it  true  that  you  Americans  do  not  call  your 
domestics  servants  ?  I  have  heard  that  your  servants  do  not  ask 
leave  when  they  go  out,  is  that  so  ? "  We  walked  some  time  in  the 
garden,  where  are  two  magnificent  cedars  of  Lebanon,  took  tea,  and 
then  went  to  the  afternoon  meeting,  which  begins  at  6  p.m.  After 
meeting  I  went  home  with  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Fry,  passed  half  an 
hour  there,  and  then  rode  to  London  with  W.  Aldham  and  family. 
His  son  was  educated  at  one  of  the  two  universities,  and  has  since 
travelled  in  Southern  Europe  and  in  Asia. 

May  28. —  I  dined  to-day  with  Edward  Backhouse.  The  other 
guests  were  W.  E.  Forster  and  two  or  three  strangers  (to  me).  A 
daughter  of  E.  B.  is  very  intelligent,  and  converses  with  much  ease 
and  fluency.     She  was  one  of  the  first  of  my  acquaintances  among 


88  "  QUAKERIETIES    IN    1838  " 

young  English  ladies  ;  and  I  was  then  much  struck  with  her  manners, 
—  natural,  but  somewhat  brusque.  There  is  something  of  the  kind 
in  nearly  all  the  young  ladies  I  have  met  in  society.  Their  move- 
ments are  not  so  artificial  and  mechanical  as  those  of  American 
demoiselles.  The  principal  topics  at  the  table  were  Switzerland  and 
whether  it  is  proper  for  a  member  of  our  society  to  accept  the  office 
of  a  magistrate,  Edward  being  a  justice  of  the  peace.  [The  Yearly 
Meeting  afterwards  adopted  a  minute  in  which  members  are  advised 
not  to  accept  that  or  any  similar  office.] 

May  30. —  Dined  with  James  Tuke  and  his  aunt  at  their  lodgings, 
the  "  Four  Swans."  Samuel  Tuke,  of  York,  is  not  here  this  year. 
Doubtless  the  sole  cause  of  his  absence  is  the  wish  not  to  act  as 
clerk  of  the  Yearly  Meeting.  The  last  day  of  the  meeting  a 
pamphlet  entitled  "  Quakerieties  for  1838"  found  its  way  among 
some  of  the  Friends,  written  in  rhyme,  and  containing  twenty-eight 
verses,  each  of  which  alludes  to  some  member  of  the  society.  That 
concerning  S.  Tuke  was  as  follows  :  — 

Samuel  Tuke,  Samuel  Tuke, 

I  have  read  thy  rebuke 
Of  Wilkins's  strange  resignation. 

I  own  thou  hast  tracked 

With  astonishing  tact 
The  cause  of  his  alienation. 

The  other  verses  were  sometimes  more  sarcastic,  as  thus :  — 

Joseph  John,  Joseph  John,* 

Thou  sine  qua  ?i07i 
Of  a  certain  religious  society, 

Thy  bolts  thou  hast  hurled 

On  a  sceptical  world, 
And  won  what  thou  loved, —  notoriety. 

Luke  Howard,  Luke  Howard, 

Why  fretful  and  froward  ? 
Why  leave  us?  we  miss  thee  and  thine  now; 

And  then,  what  is  worse, 

We  miss  thy  long  purse, 
For  Friends  have  an  eye  to  the  rhino. 

•Guraey. 


1837-1849  89 

Friend  Forster,  Friend  Forster, 

Thou  foe  to  imposture 
And  knight  of  the  yearly  epistle, 

Fame's  a  very  fine  thing, 

If  it  happiness  bring. 
And  we  "pay  not  too  dear  for  the  whistle." 

Betsy  Fry,  Betsy  Fry, 

Where  the  fatherless  lie. 
And  the  widow,  we  find  thee.     'Tis  there 

In  the  prison-house  cell 

That  thy  soft  accents  dwell, 
And  the  culprit  exults  in  thy  prayer. 

May  31. —  At  a  meeting  appointed  by  Sarah  Grubb  I  met  James, 
Sally,  and  Elizabeth  Arnold  (of  New  Bedford,  in  New  England). 
They  had  left  Paris  a  few  days  earlier  than  I,  and  came  by  way  of 
Havre,  Southampton,  and  Salisbury,  whereas  I  came  by  Boulogne, 
and  thence  direct  to  London.  In  the  evening  I  called  upon  the 
Arnolds.  James's  daughter  Elizabeth  is  without  exception  the 
most  highly  educated  young  lady  I  have  met  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  She  is  not  handsome  ;  but  one  is  charmed  by  the  fluency 
and  polish  of  her  conversation,  in  which  she  draws  from  the  re- 
sources of  a  mind  largely  stored  with  literary  and  scientific  knowl- 
edge. She  speaks  French  well.  The  family  will  soon  leave  Lon- 
don for  Holland,  where  they  will  remain  two  or  three  weeks,  and 
return  to  England  for  a  tour  through  the  southern  counties  before 
sailing  for  the  United  States. 

June  I. —  Dined  with  William  Leatham,  of  Wakefield,  in  Yorkshire, 
who  is  at  the  Yearly  Meeting  with  a  son  and  two  daughters,*  John 
Hodgkin,  a  lawyer  of  Tottenham,  and  two  daughters  of  J.  J.  Lister 
being  of  the  party.  J.  Hodgkin  has  eminence  in  his  profession,  with 
a  practice  of  from  ^10,000  to  $12,000  annually.  He  is  in  law  the 
oracle  of  the  Friends. 

June  2. —  At  the  dinner  table  of  J.  Backhouse  I  met  Alexander 
Cruikshank,  with  whom  I  supped  and  breakfasted  in  Edinburgh 
last  summer.     Isaac   Hadwen  and  Mrs.  Richardson  and  her  two 

•  The  elder  of  these  daughters  of  W.  Leatham  afterwards  married  the  celebrated  John  Bright, 
himself  a  Quaker.  Her  brother  was  chosen  to  Parliament,  but  unseated.  William  Edward  Forster 
and  William  Aldham,  Jr.,  sat  much  in  Parliament;  and  Mr.  Forster  was  a  zealous  champion  of  the 
Union  cause  there  in  our  Civil  War. 


90  QUAKERS   AT    YEARLY    MEETING 

sons  from  Belfast  were  present.  While  at  the  table,  I.  H.  made  a 
short  religious  communication,  and  Hannah  Backhouse  a  prayer. 
How  profound  a  travail  of  spirit  when  this  woman  prays  !  It  is  as 
if  the  soul  had  forgotten  the  body  which  it  inhabits.  I  took  tea  at 
Isaac  Braithwaite's,  Jr.,  in  company  with  his  sisters,  two  brothers, 
and  some  others,  among  them  Assaad  Yakoob  Kayat,  the  Oriental 
convert  to  Christianity.     To-day  the  Yearly  Meeting  closed. 

Jime  3. —  At  the  Tottenham  meeting  I  met  W.  E.  Forster,  R.  W. 
Fox  and  his  daughters,  William  Leatham  (whose  son  married  Pris- 
cilla  Gurney,  daughter  of  Samuel),  and  others.  Dined  at  Robert 
Forster's,  and  called  at  Robert  Howard's.  I  stayed  at  Robert 
Forster's,  where  I  met  also  Joseph  Price  and  John  and  Martha 
Yeardley,  whose  travels  in  Greece  were  published  in  The  Friend. 
They  speak  German,  French,  Italian,  and  modern  Greek.  When  a 
young  man,  John  Yeardley  joined  our  society  from  conviction,  and 
went  to  reside  among  the  Friends  in  Germany.  About  the  same 
time  Martha,  in  obedience  to  a  sense  of  religious  duty,  went  to 
Southern  France  to  live  for  a  while  among  the  Friends  there.  The 
two  first  met  on  the  Continent,  and  were  not  long  afterwards  married. 
At  R.  Howard's,  at  tea,  I  met  Joseph  Sturge  and  his  sister,  the 
Foxes,  and  several  other  Friends.  It  was  a  few  days  after  the 
defeat  in  the  House  of  Commons  of  the  Abolitionists,  on  the  appren- 
ticeship question.  J.  Sturge  was  cheerful,  notwithstanding  the 
defeat. 

Ju7ie  4. —  Breakfasted  with  R.  W.  Fox,  and  went  with  his  son  and 
Anna  and  Caroline  Fox  to  King's  College,  London.  Dined  at 
S.  Gurney's.  I  breakfasted  with  Robert  Ware  Fox,  who  has  apart- 
ments at  63  Burton  Crescent.  He  showed  me  an  ingenious  instru- 
ment for  determining  the  dip  of  the  magnetic  needle,  invented  by 
him  ;  and  I  remembered  to  have  assisted  John  Griscom  at  Provi- 
dence, years  ago,  in  taking  the  dip  with  a  similar  instrument  sent  to 
him  by  R.  W.  Fox.  Caroline  showed  me  a  book  of  the  Proceedings 
of  a  philosophical  society  in  their  town  (Falmouth)  in  which  her 
father  had  a  large  share. 

June  22. —  Elizabeth  Pease  tells  me  she  has  recently  received  a 
letter  from  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  in  which  he  said  he  had  entirely 
relinquished  the  idea  that  slavery  will  ever  be  abolished  in  the 
United  States  by  means  of  moral  suasion.  I  am  sorry  to  hear  it.  .  .  . 
When  I  saw  in  the  newspapers  that  Abby  Kelly  has  come  forward 


1837-1849  91 

as  a  practical  contender  for  the  rights  of  woman, —  or,  rather,  as  an 
illustrator  of  the  practice  of  those  rights, —  I  was  seized  with  a  con- 
trary opinion ;  and  it  appeared  to  me  more  suitable  that  women 
should  still  guide  the  distaff  and  direct  the  loom,  arrange  the  kitchen, 
and  grace  the  parlor  rather  than  take  so  prominent  a  situation. 
And  yet  I  have  ever  contended  for  the  propriety  of  their  taking  an 
active  part  in  public  questions.  If  they  can  do  more  good  in  this 
way  than  otherwise,  let  them  go  on ;  and  I  bid  them  God-speed. 

Ju7ie  25. —  Went  to  the  London  University,  to  a  lecture  by  Dr. 
A.  S.  Thompson  on  Medical  Jurisprudence,  specially  relating  to 
persons  drowned ;  then  to  the  University  Hospital,  where  I  followed 
Dr.  T.  in  his  visit  to  the  patients ;  and  afterwards  saw  in  the  amphi- 
theatre one  of  the  most  important  operations  in  surgery  (lithotomy) 
performed  by  Lister,  who,  as  an  operator,  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
profession  in  London,  excepting,  perhaps.  Sir  Astley  Cooper,  who 
has  much  withdrawn  from  practice.  Dr.  J.  Mason  Warren,  of 
Boston,  was  present.  In  the  evening  called  on  the  Arnolds,  who 
have  just  returned  from  Holland. 

On  the  28th  of  June  Dr.  Earle  saw  the  coronation  of  the 
Princess  Victoria  as  Queen  of  England,  and  was  so  near  her 
that  he  could  witness  the  whole  ceremony.  The  year  before 
he  had  been  at  the  funeral  of  William  IV.,  and  in  the  early  part 
of  1839  ^s  saw  the  Queen  Dowager  Adelaide  at  a  public  func- 
tion in  Malta.  But,  as  the  passages  cited  amply  show,  his  chief 
opportunities  in  England  were  among  the  active  members  of 
his  own  sect,  from  whom  he  received  the  most  cordial  welcome 
and  unstinted  hospitality.  The  familiar  combination  of  re- 
ligious earnestness  and  practical  shrewdness  in  Quakers  did 
not  escape  his  notice,  and  was  by  no  means  absent  from  his 
own  nature.  Of  this  earnestness,  directed  towards  surgical 
problems,  a  good  example  is  found  in  this  letter  of  Mrs.  Anne 
Forster,  the  grandmother  of  the  parliamentarian  and  statesman, 
W.  E.  Forster,  already  mentioned.  It  was  sent  to  Dr.  Earle  in 
June,  1837,  before  he  went  to  Paris  for  his  medical  studies. 

Sixth  Month,  1837. 
Dear  Friend, —  In  requesting  thy  kind  consideration  of  the  en- 
closed, I  wish  to  express  the  sorrow  I  have  for  years  at   times  felt 


92  VIVISECTION    IN    1 83  7 

in  hearing  of  Magendie's  (of  Paris)  excessive  cruelty,  both  there  and 
when  on  a  visit  to  this  country,  and  my  earnest  desire  that  serious 
and  honorable  men  of  the  same  profession  may  not  give  encourage- 
ment to  such  proceedings. 

I  earnestly  desire  that  those  of  the  medical  profession  who  are 
endeavoring  to  act  up  to  the  high  standard  of  righteousness  —  that 
all  earthly  engagements  should  be  in  the  fear  and  love  of  God  — 
may  very  seriously  consider  whether,  in  actively  promoting  or  pas- 
sively allowing  experiments  on  living  animals  (in  fact,  living  dissec- 
tions), with  other  acts  of  excessive  cruelty,  they  have  his  holy  coun- 
tenance on  their  labors,  and  the  trust  that  they  tend  to  his  glory, 
and  whether  such  treatment  can  be  consistently  allowed  by  those 
who  feel  that  they  are  but  stewards  over  the  creatures  formed  by 
Him  whose  "  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works."  However 
specious  may  be  the  pleadings  as  to  some  service  thereby  rendered 
to  their  fellow-creatures,  will  sanctified  knowledge  be  acquired  by 
such  means  ? 

Allow  me,  and  that  with  true  respect,  to  entreat  such  afresh  to 
take  the  subject  into  their  serious  consideration,  not  only  on 
account  of  the  exquisitely  tortured  animals,  but  also  on  account  of 
the  hardening  effect  on  the  youthful  pupils.  I  wish  to  call  their  at- 
tention to  a  statement  at  the  sixth  meeting  of  the  British  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  held  at  Bristol  in  1836 :  — 

^^  Anatomy  and  Medicine. 

"  Dr.  O'Berne  read  the  following  report  of  the  Dublin  Committee 
on  the  Pathology  of  the  Nervous  System.  .  .  .  They  are  of  opinion, 
however,  that  more  extended  observations  on  this  branch  of  their 
subject  are  required  to  be  made ;  and  they  would  also  submit  the 
necessity  of  repeating  those  experiments  on  animals,  upon  which  so 
many  authorities  rely  as  a  foundation  for  their  doctrine." 

I  trust  that  using  the  word  "  necessity  "  implies  a  degree  of  caution 
on  the  subject ;  and  I  earnestly  and  reverently  pray  that  this  necessity 
may  be  solemnly  looked  at,  and  considered  under  the  enlightening 
influence  of  His  Holy  Spirit  who  said,  "  Blessed  are  the  merciful,  for 
they  shall  obtain  mercy." 

It  would  be  very  pleasant  to  me  to  have  more  of  thy  company  ; 
but,  as  I  am  likely  to  go  this  week  into  Dorsetshire,  I  can  hardly  ex- 


1837-1849  93 

pect  this,  unless  I  may  have  the  gratification  of  welcoming  thee  at 
our  house  near  Bridport.  My  husband  and  son  are  likely  to  return 
to  Norwich,* 

With  kind  regards,  thy  friend, 

Anne  Forster. 

The  duties  of  life  were  always  taken  up  by  Dr.  Earle  in  this 
serious  spirit ;  and,  whatever  he  may  have  thought  afterwards  of 
vivisection  (then  a  new  question  in  England  and  America),  his 
opinion  would  be  formed  as  this  good  and  courteous  lady 
desired,  upon  full  and  prayerful  consideration.  Cheerful  as  his 
temper  was,  and  seldom  averse  to  merriment,  he  had,  even  in 
youth,  the  sobriety  that  his  religious  profession  required. 

*0n  this  letter  Dr.  Earle  indorsed,  "This  was  sent  to  me,  while  in  London,  by  Anne  Forster, 
wife  of  William  Forster  of  Nor\\ich,  and  mother  of  AVilliam  Forster,  who  was  father  of  William  E. 
Forster,  now  (May,  1S80)  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  British  government." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DR.    EARLE    IN    FRANCE,    SWITZERLAND,    AND    ITALY. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  first  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  centuries,  Americans,  desiring  to  complete  a  med- 
ical or  other  scientific  education,  generally  went  to  Edinburgh. 
But  by  1830  the  eminence  of  the  French  in  almost  all  the  fields  of 
science  drew  our  young  countrymen  to  Paris,  where  Dr.  Holmes 
studied  medicine  from  1833  to  1835.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  Pliny  Earle  was  engaged  in  his  early  medical  studies  with 
the  brother-in-law  of  Dr.  Holmes,  Dr.  Usher  Parsons,  of  Provi- 
dence ;  and  it  may  have  been  this  circumstance  which  directed 
his  attention  to  the  advantages  of  attending  the  lectures  of 
Louis,  Broussais,  Magendie,  Ricord,  Velpeau,  and  the  other 
men  of  world-wide  renown  who  were  then  practising  or  teach- 
ing medicine  and  surgery  in  the  French  capital.  I  incline  to 
think,  however,  that  it  was  rather  the  suggestion  of  a  cousin  of 
the  Earle  family,  Dr.  Elisha  Bartlett  of  Lowell,  who  had  heard 
Louis,  and  thought  him  the  prince  of  instructors,  as  indeed 
he  was.  Dr.  Holmes  in  later  years  used  to  say  he  had  devoted 
himself  too  exclusively  to  the  teachings  of  Louis,  but  that  was 
not  Dr.  Earle's  case.  He  had,  even  in  1837,  looked  forward  to 
the  specialty  in  which  he  afterwards  attained  such  distinction 
as  an  alienist ;  and  he  gave  some  time  in  Paris  to  the  study  of 
mental  maladies  and  their  treatment.  I  find  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Elisha  Bartlett  to  his  cousin,  then  in  the  medical  school  at 
Philadelphia,  on  the  subject  of  European  study  and  travel, 
dated  at  Lowell,  Mass.,  early  in  1837,  from  which  a  passage 
may  be  cited  :  — 

First,  as  to  the  cost  of  twelve  or  fourteen  months'  absence  on  a 
trip  to  Europe,  staying  eight  or  nine  months  in  Paris  and  travelling 
as  far  as  Rome  or  Naples, —  I  suppose  $1,000  or  $1,200  will  do  very 
well.     It   cost   me    about    $1,100,    including   everything, —  clothes. 


1837-1839  95 

books,  etc.  I  have  only  regretted  that  it  was  worth  so  Uttle  to  me 
professionally  on  account  of  my  general  and  desultory  studies  while 
in  Paris.  If  you  go,  attend  to  a  few  things.  If  you  are  preparing 
yourself  for  the  practice  of  medicine  particularly,  put  yourself  under 
the  care  of  Louis,  and  study  disease  as  he  teaches  it.  It  is  the  only 
way.  Take  hold  of  the  stethoscope,  and  of  the  scalpel  for  post- 
mortem study.  Become  a  true  Baconian  disciple  of  the  Bacon  of 
medical  philosophy,  Louis,  and  you  will  learn  more  true  medicine 
than  you  can  in  any  other  way. 

This  advice  was  well  followed  by  Dr.  Earle  in  Paris  for  a  few 
months.  He  learned  French  enough  in  a  month  or  two  to 
make  the  lectures  intelligible,  and  then  applied  himself  to 
special  studies,  with  Louis  and  others,  till  he  felt  himself  suffi- 
ciently advanced  to  "come  out  of  his  professional  shell,"  as  he 
phrased  it.  He  then  gave  many  hours  to  society,  to  the  theatre, 
to  the  study  of  Italian,  and  to  other  pursuits  likely  to  further 
his  present  or  his  ultimate  purpose.  In  the  spring  of  1838  he 
made  visits  to  the  great  asylums  for  the  insane  at  Paris  (then 
but  two,  the  Bicetre  and  the  Salpetriere),  and  thus  described 
his  first  visit :  — 

The  insane  department  of  the  Bicetre  contains  seven  hundred  and 
sixty  men,  besides  about  two  hundred  idiots.  We  found  them  under 
the  medical  care  of  Pinel  the  younger,  Ferrus  and  Leuret.  The 
latter  accompanied  us  on  our  tour  of  inspection.  Dr.  Pinel,  the  son 
of  him  who  first  unchained  the  maniacs  here,  has  written  for  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  an  account,  no  doubt  correct,  of  that  famous 
deed  of  his  father,  Philippe  Pinel,  early  in  the  year  1793,  when  Cou- 
thon,  the  friend  of  Robespierre,  finally  consented  that  the  chains 
should  be  removed  from  about  fifty  of  the  madmen  then  at  the 
Bicetre,  when  the  whole  number  was  somewhat  less  than  I  found 
there.  It  was  not  this  son  of  Pinel  (as  incorrectly  stated  in  my 
"  Visit  to  Thirteen  Asylums  "),  but  his  colleague.  Dr.  Leuret,  who 
showed  us  the  bathing-room,  and  explained  his  manner  of  using  the 
douche  for  purposes  of  mental  and  moral  discipline,  which  appeared 
to  me  injurious.  The  scene  of  this  treatment  contained  about  a 
dozen  bath-tubs,  over  each  of  which  was  a  douche-pipe  with  a  ca- 
pacity for  a  three-quarter-inch  stream.     In  two  tubs  we  saw  patients. 


96  INSANITY    IN    FRANCE,    1838 

each  kept  from  leaving  the  tub  by  a  board  fitted  to  his  neck  where 
he  sat,  as  a  man  stands  in  the  pillory.  One  was  a  robust  man,  sub- 
ject to  varying  hallucinations,  who  now  thought  himself  the  husband 
of  the  widowed  Duchess  of  Berri,  and  had  been  permitted  the  day 
before  to  have  writing  materials  on  condition  that  he  would  not 
write  such  vagaries  as  that  he  was  a  favorite  of  the  exiled  Bourbons 
and  of  Louis  Philippe.  He  had  written,  however,  his  usual  ab- 
surdities about  the  Duke  of  Bordeaux,  Charles  X.,  etc.  Dr.  Leuret, 
with  this  letter  in  his  hand,  reminded  the  patient  of  his  promise,  read 
him  the  nonsense  he  had  written,  and  asked  him  if  he  still  believed 
that.  "Oui,  Monsieur."  "Give  him  the  douche,"  said  Dr.  Leuret 
to  the  attendant,  who  at  once  turned  the  cock  and  discharged  the 
stream  on  the  madman's  head.  He  screamed  and  writhed,  and 
begged  to  have  it  stopped.  It  was  checked ;  and  he  was  asked, 
"  Do  you  still  believe  you  are  the  intimate  friend  of  Charles  X.? " 
"  I  think  I  do."  "  Let  him  have  the  douche."  He  again  floundered, 
shouted,  and  begged  for  mercy.  "  Well,  are  you  the  chum  of 
Charles  X,  and  the  Duke  of  Bordeaux ? "  "I  —  I  presume  so." 
"  Give  him  the  douche  once  more."  In  this  way,  sometimes  with 
argument  and  sometimes  with  the  cold  stream,  the  doctor  labored 
for  half  an  hour  to  break  up  his  fantastic  notions.  At  last  the 
patient  gave  in,  and  his  tormentor  gave  him  a  lesson  to  be  learned 
for  the  next  day. 

Turning  to  the  other  man  in  his  tub.  Dr.  Leuret  said  he  had 
yesterday  refused  to  do  a  task  assigned  to  him,  leaving  the  work  un- 
touched. He  then  asked  the  man  why  he  had  neglected  to  work. 
"To  tell  the  truth,  Monsieur,  I  did  not  feel  any  special  desire  to 
work."  This  was  said  with  a  jocose  leer  which  almost  made  us 
laugh.  "  Well,  will  you  work  hereafter  when  you  are  told  ?  "  Re- 
flecting an  instant,  with  the  same  comic  air  he  said,  "  Pai-ole  d'honneur^ 
I  will  ;/^/ work."  "Give  him  the  douche,"  said  Dr.  L.  The  effect 
of  the  stream  was  now  instantaneous.  Like  a  child  who  is  whipped, 
he  cried,  "  I  will,  I  will ! "  The  douche  was  then  stopped,  and 
orders  given  that  he  should  do  the  task  before  night.* 

Dr.  Earle  was  shocked  at  this  use  of  physical  pain  to  coerce 
or  punish  the  insane,  which  in  itself  was  no  better,  though  the 

*  This  singular  treatment,  long  since  given  up,  like  Dr.  Rush's  panacea  of  bleeding  the  insane, 
is  described  at  greater  length  in  the  "visit"  above  mentioned.  But  Dr.  Earle  pointed  out  to  me 
numerous  errors  in  the  printed  account,  which  I  have  here  corrected. 


1837-1839  97 

motive  was   good,  than   the  old    abuse   of   chaining  the  men 
whom  Pinel  released. 

Ordinarily,  the  young  doctor,  while  in  Paris,  was  each  day  at 
the  Hotel  Dieu,  the  old  general  hospital  of  the  city,  where 
Louis,  Velpeau,  and  sometimes  Magendie  lectured  and  gave 
clinical  instruction ;  and  it  was  Louis  who  gave  him  introduc- 
tions to  the  three  asylums.  Esquirol  himself,  a  worthy  suc- 
cessor of  Pinel,  and  better  instructed  in  the  specialty,  was  then 
at  the  head  of  the  Charenton  asylum,  some  miles  outside  the 
city.  Here  he  found  both  men  and  women,  under  better  con- 
ditions and  receiving  more  enlightened  care  than  either  the 
men  at  the  Bicetre  or  the  women  at  the  Salpetriere.  In  both 
the  last-named  asylums  the  sane  and  the  insane  poor  were  re- 
ceived in  the  same  establishment,  as  in  the  Blockley  Alms- 
house of  Philadelphia,  though  kept  in  separate  departments. 
Even  the  Hotel  Dieu,  the  great  general  hospital,  was  found  by 
the  medical  reformer  Chaptal,  seven  years  after  Pinel's  noble 
act  at  the  Bicetre,  occupied  in  part  by  noisy,  chained  maniacs. 
Chaptal  says  {1800)  :  — 

A  visit  made  by  me  as  Minister  of  the  Interior  to  the  Hotel  Dieu 
decided  me  to  begin  my  reforms  there, —  the  most  important  and  the 
worst  kept  of  all  our  Paris  charities.  Sixty  maniacs,  tied  by  the  feet 
and  hands  to  the  four  posts  of  their  beds,  occupied  the  upper  rooms. 
Their  outcries,  which  were  heard  almost  all  over  the  building,  kept 
the  sick  men  in  the  neighboring  wards  from  going  to  sleep.  These 
unfortunate  insane  persons  received  the  public  charity  only  amid 
torments  which  nothing  but  death  could  end.  The  other  wards  con- 
tained about  two  thousand  patients  of  all  sexes  and  ages,  lying  al- 
most everywhere  two  in  the  same  bed ;  and  I  saw  that  the  bed 
linen  was  insufficient  and  in  very  bad  condition,  while  the  food 
was  all  of  poor  quality.  I  summoned  the  then  chief  of  the  hospi- 
tals and  other  charities,  and  told  him  my  determination,  in  three  par- 
ticulars :  (i)  to  remove  the  very  next  day  all  the  insane  to  the  asy- 
lums of  Charenton  and  Bicetre,  Avhere  the  other  insane  were  cared 
for ;  (2)  to  establish  at  once  a  special  hospital  for  sick  children  ex- 
clusively, and  to  assemble  and  treat  such  there ;  (3)  to  admit  to  the 
Hotel  Dieu  thereafter  only  the  adult  sick  of  both  sexes,  and  not  to 
admit  those  until  their  physical  condition  had  been  carefully  deter- 


90  PARISIAN    EXPERIENCES 

mined.  Will  it  be  credited  that  the  chief,  a  very  reasonable  and 
well-informed  man,  opposed  these  measures  ?  He  told  me  that  I 
was  acting  contrary  to  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Hotel  Dieu, 
which  by  its  constitution  was  ordered  to  receive  the  sick  of  all 
kinds,  whatever  the  disease,  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex ;  that 
I  was  perverting  such  establishments,  and  that  the  families  of  the 
founders  would  make  protests  against  the  failure  to  carry  out  the 
will  of  their  ancestors.  But  the  next  day  the  maniacs  were  sent  to 
Charenton  and  the  Bicetre.* 

I  have  cited  this  fact,  probably  known  to  Dr.  Earle,  though 
taken  from  a  volume  printed  since  his  death,  in  order  to  show 
how  slow  is  the  process,  even  in  the  more  advanced  communi- 
ties, of  improvements  such  as  Pinel,  Chaptal,  Dr.  Howe,  and 
Dr.  Earle  have  suggested  or  initiated  in  the  care  of  the  insane 
and  the  general  reformation  of  a  traditional  system.  From  the 
outset  of  his  special  studies  Dr.  Earle  seems  to  have  been 
guided  by  his  good  sense,  his  logical,  inductive  turn  of  mind, 
and  his  benevolent  heart  to  those  simple,  judicious,  and  useful 
methods  of  treatment  which  have  not  yet  established  them- 
selves firmly  even  in  his  native  State,  though  gradually  super- 
seding the  old  fanciful,  routmary  usages. 

Accustomed  in  America  to  the  rather  languid  and  perfunc- 
tory performance  of  the  duties  of  medical  instruction  and  care 
which  then  prevailed.  Dr.  Earle  was  surprised  at  the  arduous 
activity  of  his  Parisian  professors.  He  says  in  one  of  his  let- 
ters of  1838:  — 

Although  the  most  volatile  of  Europeans,  the  French  furnish  a 
very  large  number  of  the  most  learned  men.  No  nation  has  pro- 
duced more  profound  students  in  the  abstract  sciences,  and  their 
professional  men  are  paragons  of  industry.  To  visit  in  the  hospitals 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  patients,  and  prescribe  for  them  by  candle- 
light in  the  morning ;  then  to  give  a  lecture  of  an  hour  before  break- 
fast ;  between  breakfast  and  dinner  to  visit  an  extensive  circle  of 
patients  in  private  practice,  and  perhaps  attend  the  meeting  of  a 
medical  society  ;  after  dinner  (at  6  p.m.)  to  pass  the  evening  in  por- 

• "  Mes  Souvenirs  de  Napoleon,  par  le  Comte  Chaptal,"  Paris,  1893.  This  interesting  book 
contains  not  only  what  its  name  implies,  anecdotes  of  Napoleon  I.,  but  also  Chaptal's  autobiography, 
and  other  facts  concerning  this  greatest  of  French  chemists,  and  one  of  the  best  organizers  even  in 
hat  most  organizing  of  nations,  the  French. 


1837-1839  99 

ing  over  professional  books  or  in  writing  some  original  essay, —  such 
is  the  life  of  any  one  of  the  more  eminent  physicians  of  Paris.  The 
honors  and  emoluments  of  the  profession  scarcely  will  recompense 
this  unremitting  toil. 

His  observations  extended  to  very  minute  and  curious  par- 
ticulars of  the  French  modes  of  life.     He  says  :  — 

No  class  of  persons  are  more  healthy  in  appearance  than  the  most 
respectable  of  the  laboring  women  of  Paris ;  yet  they  are  seen  in 
the  coldest  weather  threading  the  streets  with  nothing  on  their  heads 
but  a  muslin  cap.  They  act  upon  the  old  maxim, — "  Keep  the  feet 
warm  and  the  head  cool."  You  will  find  that  over  woollen  stockings 
and  thick  shoes  they  not  unfrequently  wear  socks  lined  with  wool, 
and  sometimes  over  these  the  wooden  shoes.  In  thus  preserving  by 
dress  the  natural  heat  of  the  body,  they  can  do  without  much  artifi- 
cial heat.  Last  winter  was  colder  in  Paris  than  any  previous  one 
for  more  than  a  century,  the  mercury  several  times  standing  at  zero. 
Yet  a  Frenchman  in  an  apartment  adjoining  mine  in  the  Place 
Odeon,  and  who  spent  most  of  his  evenings  at  home,  had  no  fire  in 
his  room  the  whole  winter.  In  the  spring  of  1839  ^  returned  from 
Havre  to  New  York  in  that  dubious  season  when  it  is  too  warm  to 
keep  up  a  fire  and  yet  too  cold  for  comfort.  However,  we  had  none. 
On  the  coldest  days,  when  the  American  ladies  shivered  in  the 
cabin,  in  bonnet  and  shawl,  there  were  Frenchwomen  sitting  on  deck 
and  sewing,  with  neither  shawls  nor  bonnets. 

In  Paris,  as  in  Edinburgh,  Leyden,  and  Florence,  the  anatomical 
museums  are  open  to  the  general  public,  and  are  visited  by  large 
numbers  of  ladies ;  while  in  America  they  are  almost  held  sacred  to 
the  use  of  the  medical  profession.  At  the  University  of  Leyden  I 
was  shown  through  by  a  woman,  who  called  my  attention  particu- 
larly to  some  of  the  most  revolting  preparations  as  the  most  curious 
in  the  collection.  In  Paris  the  show-windows  of  the  shops  for  the 
sale  of  natural  history  specimens  are  ornamented  (shall  I  say  ?)  with 
children's  skeletons, —  some  of  them  infants, —  a  practice  which  I  do 
not  mention  for  imitation.  In  contrast  with  the  hesitation  of  our 
countrywomen  in  1839  to  take  up  the  useful  study  of  anatomy,  I  may 
say  that  Miss  Leatham,  of  Wakefield,  in  Yorkshire,  who  afterwards 
married  John  Bright,  the  statesman,  but  who  was  then  studying  with 
a  private  tutor,  showed  me  the  Avork  on  anatomy  which  she  and  her 


lOO  HOMCEOPATHY    IN     1 838 

sister  were  studying,  and  said  it  was  one  of  the  requisites  of  a  good 
education  for  Englishwomen. 

In  Paris  (February,  1838)  I  made  my  first  acquaintance  with 
European  homceopathy.  It  was  at  a  soiree  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth 
Fry,  at  which  were  Lady  Fitz-James  and  Lady  Bethune,  from  Scot- 
land. I  was  standing  by  the  fire,  conversing  with  Josiah  Forster, 
when  Anne  Knight*  came  to  me  to  ask  what  the  word  was  which 
she  had  just  heard  me  apply  to  the  doctrine  of  the  homoeopathists. 
I  told  her  'twas  "infinitesimal."  She  stepped  back  to  the  two  ladies 
with  whom  she  had  been  talking.  I  followed  her,  saying,  "  I  hope 
neither  of  you  favors  that  doctrine."  "  Voila  the  professor  of  the 
doctrine,"  said  Anne  Knight,  pointing  to  one  of  the  two  ladies  from 
Britain.  We  then  entered  upon  a  learned  discussion,  in  which  my 
opponent  showed  her  knowledge  of  the  profession  by  the  readiness 
with  which  she  employed  its  technical  terms.  She  related  several 
cases  of  wonderful  cures  by  the  treatment, —  cases,  too,  which  had 
been  given  up  as  hopeless  by  the  regular  practitioners.  When  she 
had  done,  in  steps  the  other  lady  (who  was  no  other  and  no  less  than 
Lady  Bethune)  as  an  ally,  and  asserted  that  she  once  had  a  child  en- 
tirely cured  of  "  convulsions,"  and  another  of  quite  as  formidable  a 
disease,  by  the  homoeopathic  treatment.  Then  the  first  (the  lady 
physician),  a  young  Englishwoman  with  a  profusion  of  golden  curls. 
Miss  Ferrier,  drew  from  her  reticule  a  box  about  five  inches  by  four 
and  an  inch  thick,  looking  externally  like  a  miniature  case.  It  did 
contain  a  miniature,  sure  enough;  but  of  what?  Of  a  druggist's 
shop,  or  the  whole  magazine  of  ^sculapius !  There  were  no  less 
than  one  hundred  and  twenty  bottles  of  pills  in  it,  besides  many 
powders  ;  and,  moreover,  in  each  bottle  there  were  from  one  hundred 
to  two  hundred  pills  !  There  were  as  many  different  medicines  as 
bottles,  the  pills,  however,  all  alike  in  appearance,  being  white,  and 
the  size  of  a  grain  of  mustard-seed.  All  are  made  of  the  same 
neutral  substance,  and  derive  their  virtues  from  being  dipped  into 
a  solution  of  each  medicine.  So  it  may  be  imagined  how  large  a 
quantity  of  the  medicament  one  of  these  little  pills  coated  with  a 
solution  can  contain.  Well,  after  getting  an  idea  of  this  quantity 
fairly  fixed  in  your  mind,  mark  the  following :  Lady  Bethune  is  her- 
self taking  one  of  these  medicines.     She  dissolves  otie  pill  in   five 

•  This  was  an  English  Quakeress,  temporarily  residing  at  Paris  in  order  to  bring  influence  from 
England  to  bear  on  the  French  government  and  Chambers  in  favor  of  abolishing  slavery  in  the 


1837-1839  lOI 

tablespoonfuls  of  water,  and  then  takes  ten  drops  of  that  water  each 
morning  !  She  was  ordered  to  take  a  teaspoonful  every  morning, 
but  she  found  it  was  too  much  for  her  !  I  asked  her  ladyship,  since 
the  physicians  of  both  schools  employ  the  same  medicines,  how  it 
was  possible  that  in  one  case  so  minute  a  quantity  should  have  an 
effect  greater  than  one  hundred  or  one  thousand  times  as  much  in 
another  case.  Her  answer  was  that  the  virtues  of  the  specifics  are 
brought  out  by  friction."  * 

Dr.  Earle  himself,  however,  was  rather  surprised  at  the  small 
quantity  of  medicine  given  by  his  instructors  in  their  hospital 
practice,  which  he  followed  with  great  interest  every  day  that 
he  went  through  with  them.     He  says  :  — 

Since  I  left  America,  I  have  not  seen  an  emetic  given,  nor  heard 
of  one  ordered  to  be  administered.  Louis  never  gives  them,  unless, 
perhaps,  in  cases  of  poisoning  where  there  is  no  stomach-pump  at 
hand.  In  small-pox  no  medicine  is  given ;  and  in  three-fourths  of 
the  cases  of  typhoid  fever  the  patient  is  merely  put  upon  "  absolute 
diet,"  with  a  bottle  of  seltzer  water  daily.  There  is  a  great  differ- 
ence between  the  French  and  the  American  practice  in  this  respect. 

Aprils  1838. —  I  have  now  "  followed,"  as  the  French  say,  the  hospi- 
tals for  more  than  six  months,  and  have  taken  down  in  French  more 
than  two  hundred  pages  of  good  histories  of  cases  of  disease,  to  say 
nothing  of  an  earlier  hundred  pages, —  imperfect,  because  they  were 
written  before  I  well  understood  the  language.  I  can  now  write 
French  (as  you  perceive),  and  read  Italian  with  nearly  the  same 
facility  that  I  could  read  French  when  I  left  home. 

At  this  time,  and  for  some  months  before,  he  had  been  at 
the  hospital  from  7  to  10  a.m.  and  from  3  to  5  or  5.30  p.m.  But 
this  did  not  prevent  him  from  seeing  company.     He  says  :  — 

Feb.  8,  1838. —  At  9  P.M.  I  took  the  omnibus  to  go  to  the  soiree 
of  the  American  minister,  General  Lewis  Cass,  who  lives  near  Anne 
Knight's,  two  miles  from  my  Hotel  de  la  Place  de  I'Odeon.  When 
we  had  gone  about  two-thirds  of  the  way,  an  elderly  man  got  into  the 

♦Although  homceopathy  was  introduced  in  America  by  182 1,  and  in  England  somewhat  earlier, 
this  is  the  first  mention  I  have  found  of  women  practising  it  in  either  country.  At  present  many 
women  practise  medicine  in  England,  as  well  as  in  the  United  States.  The  IMatemite  Hospital,  for 
the  instruction  of  women  in  midwifery,  was  opened  by  Chaptal  in  Paris  early  in  the  century.  See  his 
"  Souvenirs." 


102  GENERAL    CASS'S    SOIREE 

'bus,  and  told  the  conductor  to  let  him  down  at  the  end  of  the  Rue 
Matignon,  in  which  General  Cass  lives,  I  suspected  he  was  going 
to  the  same  soiree ;  and,  on  looking  at  him,  I  perceived  he  wore  the 
badge  of  the  Legion  of  Honor, —  a  red  ribbon,  worn  usually  in  the 
upper  buttonhole  but  one  on  the  left  side  of  the  coat.  As  we 
alighted  together,  I  ventured  to  say  to  him,  in  view  of  the  mud  in 
the  street,  "  II  y  a  beaucoup  de  boue,"  which  served  as  an  opening  for 
conversation.  He  asked  my  country,  profession,  name,  etc.  (in  this 
order),  and  said  he  had  himself  travelled  in  Egypt  and  Great  Britain, 
and  hoped  to  go  to  America ;  mentioning  the  names  of  several 
American  societies  of  which  he  is  an  honorary  member,  among  them 
the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  and  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  of  Philadelphia.  I  then  asked  his  name,  which  was  Jullien 
de  Paris,  he  said.  In  the  house  of  General  Cass  we  had  further 
conversation  ;  and  he  handed  me  a  note,  which  I  found  to  read  thus  : 
"  Encyclopedic  Dinners.  These  banquets,  at  which  habitually  as- 
semble a  certain  number  of  the  friends  of  science  and  of  the  public 
good,  and  many  honorable  men  of  all  countries, —  where  fortuitous 
meetings  have  often  led  to  lasting  relations,  reciprocally  agreeable 
and  useful, —  were  established  in  1815,  and  have  continued,  without 
interruption,  ever  since."  (Then  followed  an  invitation  for  me  to 
the  next  dinner,  February  13,  signed  "Jullien  de  Paris.")  I  returned 
an  acceptance. 

At  General  Cass's  the  servants  were  in  small-clothes,  and  wore  a 
gilt  eagle  on  the  end  of  the  upright  coat  collar  on  each  side.  Going 
from  the  anteroom,  in  which  our  overcoats  were  left,  we  passed 
through  a  billiard-room,  where  women  as  well  as  men  played  during 
the  evening,  and  entered  an  elegant  drawing-room,  as  our  names 
were  pronounced  in  a  loud  voice  by  the  usher.  Except  this  an- 
nouncement there  were  no  introductions  ;  but  any  guest  is  quite  free 
to  address  any  other  without  an  introduction.  General  Cass  and  his 
youngest  daughter  (of  three)  were  present,  Mrs.  Cass  being  in- 
disposed. This  oflficiating  daughter,  a  genteel  girl  of  perhaps 
eighteen,  with  dark  hair  and  dark  blue  eyes,  performed  her  duties 
comme  il  faut.  About  twenty  American  and  French  guests  were 
present  when  we  arrived,  and  twenty  or  thirty  succeeded  us.  We 
were  treated  to  tea  and  cake  and  ice-cream  several  times  during  the 
evening.  The  gentlemen  at  such  soirees  carry  their  hats  the  whole 
evening,  some,  to  save  labor,  suspending  them  from  a  button  on  the 
left  side.     Upon  the  whole  the  gathering  was  a  little  too  stiff,  con- 


1837-1839  I03 

versation  not  being  so  general  or  continual  as  if  more  French  people 
had  been  present.  At  11.30  my  friend  and  I  took  a  citadine  (a 
small  hackney  coach),  and  drove  back  to  the  Place  de  I'Odeon. 

Februa?y  13. —  I  went  at  6  p.m.,  the  appointed  hour,  to  meet  M, 
Jullien's  company  at  the  encyclopedic  dinner,  or  reunion  des  nations. 
Before  seven  fifty-five  guests  had  assembled,  among  whom  were  the 
president  (M.  Jullien),  Sir  Sydney  Smith  of  the  siege  of  Acre,  Counts 
Orsoni  and  Ugoni  of  Italy,  Joseph  M.  White,  a  member  of  our  Con- 
gress, Professor  Menai  of  Rome,  Professor  Schotley  of  Breslau,  Rev, 
Edward  N.  Kirk  of  Albany,  Dr.  Evans  of  Philadelphia,  a  young 
Mr.  Harrison  of  Baltimore,  one  or  two  members  of  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies,  several  notables  from  Spain  and  Portugal,  others  from 
England,  Scotland,  Denmark,  etc.  We  sat  down  to  dinner  at  seven, 
around  a  table  with  three  extensions.  At  the  head  of  the  centre  and 
connecting  table  sat  M.  Jullien,  with  Sir  Sydney  at  his  left.  I  had  a 
seat  beside  Count  Orsoni,  who  was  exceedingly  sociable,  and 
promised  to  give  me  letters  to  the  Roman  princes,  when  I  should  go 
to  Italy.  Another  Italian  offered  to  give  me  a  letter  to  Silvio  Pellico, 
with  whom  he  is  acquainted.  The  courses  at  dinner  were  about 
fifteen,  with  vin  ordinaire  and  champagne,  at  discretion.  When 
about  to  open  the  champagne,  M.  Jullien  rose  to  make  a  speech,  in 
which  he  gave  an  account  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  society, 
recited  the  names  of  distinguished  men  who  had  previously  dined 
there  and  of  those  then  present.  He  had  a  compliment  for  each  of 
those,  as  well  as  for  the  country  each  represented,  which,  of  course, 
were  received  with  much  hand-clapping  and  drumming  upon  the 
tables.  He  was  followed  by  Sir  Sydney  in  a  speech.  When  he  had 
ended  and  the  whole  room  was  ringing  with  applause,  M.  Jullien 
rose ;  and  the  two  kissed  each  other  as  fervently  as  if  they  had  been 
sisters. 

A  Portuguese  gentleman  then  spoke,  with  the  evident  purpose  of 
lauding  France  and  the  French  with  all  the  fulsome  compliments  in 
his  vocabulary,  and  to  set  England  and  the  English  in  bold  contrast. 
At  this  the  English  present  began  to  look  sour ;  and  soon  the  speaker 
was  called  to  order  by  a  Frenchman  sitting  near,  who  declared  that 
in  such  a  place,  where  persons  from  so  many  countries  were  as- 
sembled, there  ought  to  be  no  invidious  comparisons.  The  Portugee 
sat  down  in  silence ;  but,  when  the  room  resounded  with  cries  of 
"  Parlez,  parlez  !  "  he  rose  again,  said  a  few  civil  words,  and  took  his 
seat  again.     He  was  followed  by  another  from  Portugal,  and  then  by 


I04  MRS.   FRY    IN    PARIS 

one  or  two  Frenchmen,  after  which  our  Congressman  White  made  a 
very  good  speech  in  English,  apologizing  at  first  for  not  speaking 
French.  He  dwelt  on  the  pleasure  he  felt  in  being  present,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  compare  this  "  reunion  of  nations  "  around  the  table  to  the 
United  States,  which  of  itself  is  a  reunion  of  nations.  At  this  the 
applause  was  loud  and  long,  perhaps  more  so  than  if  his  remarks  had 
been  understood  by  half  the  company.  M.  JulUen,  in  closing,  passed 
a  high  eulogium  upon  the  United  States  for  having  made  great  and 
successful  exertions  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  said,  "  Honor 
to  the  country  which,  though  so  remote,  has  sent  us  an  agent " 
(Robert  Baird,  then  present)  "  to  establish  temperance  societies  in 
France  and  on  the  Continent!  "  During  the  dinner  Count  Ugoni  had 
an  epileptic  seizure,  and  was  carried  from  the  table.  He  soon  re- 
covered, and  was  taken  home. 

It  was  in  this  same  winter  of  1837-38  that  Mrs.  Fry,  who  in 
a  former  visit  to  France  had  observed  the  unsatisfactory  state 
of  the  prisons,  made  herself  an  agent  in  Paris  to  effect  an  ame- 
lioration in  this  respect.  She  was  accompanied  by  her  husband 
and  other  English  and  American  Quakers,  and  made  a  deep 
impression.  Dr.  Earle,  as  already  mentioned  (p.  84),  was 
often  present  at  her  meetings,  and  at  the  private  gatherings  of 
her  own  circle,  and  has  recorded  many  incidents.  Twenty 
years  before,  when  not  yet  forty,  she  had  begun  those  visits  to 
Newgate  that  have  made  her  so  famous.  She  was  now  nearly 
sixty,  and  her  life  was  to  be  continued  but  a  few  years  more. 
She  reached  Paris,  not  in  the  spring,  as  Mr.  Hare  says  in  "  The 
Gurneys  of  Earlham,"  but  late  in  January,  1838,  and  on  the  5th 
of  February  held  a  meeting  which  Dr.  Earle  thus  describes  :  — 

This  evening  I  went  to  a  gathering  of  English,  Americans,  and 
French  at  the  rooms  of  an  Englishman  named  Kemp,  in  Rue  Mt. 
Thabor.  Perhaps  fifty  were  there  when  I  arrived,  and  took  a  seat 
beside  a  lady  from  New  York.  They  were  passing  tea  and  cake  as 
at  an  evening  party,  having  no  license  from  the  police  for  a  public 
meeting.  The  London  Friends  soon  came  in,  and,  as  I  had  a  com- 
fortable fauteuil,  I  yielded  it  to  Elizabeth  Fry,  and  took  a  chair 
near.  Mrs,  Fry  was  very  sociable.  She  had  a  word  for  each  one 
present,  speaking  to  all  who  were  within  speaking    distance.     On 


1837-1S39  loS 

my  left  was  a  young  lady  I  had  not  seen  before.  Elizabeth  Fry 
asked  her  and  a  young  man  beside  her  whether  they  were  Ameri- 
cans or  English.  They  said,  "Americans."  "From  what  part?" 
"Boston."  "Ah!  a  beautiful  city.  I  understand  some  relations  of 
mine,  the  Backhouses, —  thou  knows  them  "  (turning  to  me), —  "  were 
very  much  pleased  with  it.  May  I  not  ask  your  names  ?  "  "  Salis- 
bury, cousins  of  the  Salisburies  of  Worcester."  After  the  tea-cups 
had  been  collected,  an  EngUshman,  who  has  lived  many  years  in 
Paris,  advanced  to  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  began  questioning 
Mrs.  Fry,  asking  her  how  long  she  had  been  in  Paris,  if  she  had 
been  there  before  ("Yes,  in  Normandy  last  year,  and  then  in 
Paris  "  ),  how  she  liked  Paris,  what  was  the  moral  state  of  the  people, 
etc.  She  answered  much  as  she  afterwards  wrote  to  her  sister, 
"  Such  a  nation  !  such  a  numerous  and  superior  people,  filling  such 
a  place  in  the  world !  and  Satan  appearing  in  no  common  degree  to 
be  seeking  to  destroy  them."  She  then  returned  the  compliment  by 
asking  him  the  same  questions.  He  said  there  had  been  great 
improvement  in  the  French  people  during  the  fifteen  years  since 
1823.  Bibles  are  more  read,  religious  meetings  more  attended, 
schools  better  organized,  etc.  Josiah  Forster  then  rose,  and  related 
the  methods  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  He  next 
spoke  of  the  belief  of  Friends  with  regard  to  women  appearing  in 
the  ministry,  and  of  the  motives  of  Elizabeth  Fry  in  coming  to 
Paris  ;  and  he  finished  by  reading  her  certificates  from  the  monthly 
and  quarterly  meetings  and  that  from  the  meeting  of  ministers  and 
elders.  After  a  short  silence  Mrs.  Fry  addressed  the  audience  at 
length,  chiefly  upon  the  state  of  the  Parisians  and  French  generally, 
of  the  means  by  which  all  English  and  American  residents  or  travel- 
lers might  do  good,  and  of  their  duty  to  do  it.  She  spoke  also  of 
the  benefit  she  believed  to  arise  in  every  family  from  a  daily  assem- 
bling of  its  members  to  read  the  Scriptures,  and  she  urged  the 
importance  of  a  period  of  silence  after  such  reading.  As  to  her 
membership  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  she  said  that,  although  con- 
vinced she  was  in  the  proper  course  for  herself,  she  believed  she  felt 
no  sectarianism,  but  was  ready  to  give  the  right  hand  of  fellowship 
to  those  of  any  faith  who  loved  the  Lord  with  sincerity.  She  after- 
wards appeared  in  supplication  [prayed],  and  the  meeting  was  closed. 
Most  of  the  audience  remained  half  an  hour  in  conversation,  and  a 
large  number  of  tracts  thrown  on  the  table  for  distribution  were 
taken  away  by  them.     The  wives  of  three  or  four  of   the  French 


Io6  HORSELESS    CARRIAGES    OF    1 838 

nobility  were  present,  and  a  month  later  (March  5)  Mrs.  Fry  called 
on  the  king  and  queen  by  invitation.  She  thinks  the  queen  a  very 
agreeable  and  even  interesting  woman,  and  the  Duchess  of  Orleans 
an  uncommon  person. 

Indeed,  Mrs.  Fry  went  so  far  in  her  communications  to  her 
family  as  to  call  the  mother  of  the  present  Comte  de  Paris  a 
very  valuable  young  person,  which  was  greater  praise  than  per- 
haps it  sounds  to  those  not  used  to  the  Quaker  moderation  of 
statement. 

At  a  friend's  house  Dr.  Earle  saw  a  strange  sight :  — 

"  At  I.  Sargent's  in  the  Champs  filysees,  before  sitting  down  to 
dinner,  we  heard  a  great  rumbling  in  the  street;  and,  stepping  to  the 
window,  what  should  we  see  but  a  locomotive  rolling  in  cloudy  majesty 
along  the  Alle'e  d'Antar  directly  in  front  of  the  house  ?  It  was  a 
very  heavy  engine,  having  six  large,  broad  wheels,  the  hindermost  ap- 
parently six  feet  in  diameter.  Attached  to  it  was  a  tender,  and  one 
of  the  largest-sized  diligences,  the  latter  filled  inside  with  passengers, 
and  covered  with  them  outside,  somewhat  as  the  branch  of  a  tree  is 
covered  with  bees  when  a  swarm  has  lighted  there.  This  odd  train 
was  going  from  eight  to  ten  miles  an  hour.  Some  horses  in  the 
street  were  much  frightened  at  it,  and  one  so  much  so  that  he  fell, 
throwing  his  rider  headlong,  but  on  the  greensward  under  the  trees 
beside  the  A\\6e,  so  that  he  received  little  injury. 

jFel>.  21,  1838. —  A  French  gentleman  (M.  St.  Antoine,  a  chev- 
alier of  the  Legion  of  Honor),  who  is  an  active  member  of  the  French 
Society  for  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,  gave  me  an  invitation  to  attend 
a  meeting  of  one  of  its  committees  to-day.  Accordingly,  I  went  with 
him  from  his  house  in  the  Place  Vendome  to  the  palace  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  in  which  the  meeting  was  held.  Among  those 
present  were  the  Comte  d'Harcourt,  the  Marquis  of  Rochefoucauld, 
and  several  deputies.  M.  de  Lamartine,  the  poet  and  author,  was  to 
have  been  there,  but  was  kept  away  by  illness.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  committee.  Query. —  Would  the  meeting  of  such  a  society  be 
tolerated  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington  ?  * 

•  Certainly  not  in  1838,  nor  for  many  years  after.  Professor  Daubeny,  an  Oxford  professor,  tlien 
travelling  in  this  country,  heard  Mr.  Calhoun  declare  (Jan.  4,  1838)  in  the  Senate  at  Washington  that, 
to  advocate  the  abolition  of  slavery  as  immoral,  would  be  "  a  direct  and  dangerous  attack  on  the  insti- 
tutions of  all  the  slaveholding  states." 


1837-1839  I07 

Upon  his  introduction  to  General  Cass,  who  was  then  Amer- 
ican minister  at  Paris,  Dr.  Earle  found  that  statesman  ready  to 
converse  on  the  slavery  question,  and  perhaps  with  more  free- 
dom than  he  would  have  done  a  few  years  later  or  even  at  that 
date  (Feb.  5,  1838),  had  he  been  in  America.     The  diary  says: 

At  noon,  after  a  morning  spent  at  the  hospital  clinic,  I  went  to  de- 
liver my  letter  of  introduction  from  Dr.  Griscom  to  General  Cass.  I 
found  him  in  his  office  or  study.  Perhaps  it  might  be  called  the 
latter,  since  he  devoteth  two  hours  each  morning  to  the  study  of 
French.  I  know  not  when  I  have  been  made  to  feel  immediately 
so  much  at  ease  when  first  introduced  to  one  of  the  powerful  of  the 
earth.*  He  was  in  his  robe  de  c/iambre,  a  very  comfortable  garment, 
much  worn  in  Paris.  He  took  oif  his  turtle-shell-frame  spectacles, 
adjusted  his  sandy  wig,  and  went  to  talking,  first  about  the  Canadian 
question  and  then  upon  abolition.  He  thinks  the  burning  of  the 
steamer  "  Caroline  "  f  will  not  cause  a  rupture  between  England  and 
the  United  States,  and  quoted  the  conduct  of  General  Jackson  in 
Florida  and  of  Commodore  Porter  in  the  West  Indies  as  being  cases 
of  even  greater  infringement  of  the  rights  and  the  peace  of  other 
nations  than  was  the  act  now  in  question.  As  to  slavery,  he  says  he 
has  been  astonished  to  find  so  general  an  abhorrence  of  that  system 
by  Europeans.  In  his  exact  words,  "  It  is  impossible  to  convince 
them  of  the  justice  of  holding  the  negroes  in  bondage  a  single 
moment."  He  made  no  exceptions.  I  asked  him  what  he  thought 
of  the  prospect  of  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  "  A  man  may  as  well 
talk  of  committing  suicide,"  was  his  reply,  "as  the  South  to  talk  of 
dissolving  the  Union.  She  has  the  elements  of  death  within  herself ; 
and,  the  moment  the  separation  should  be  effected,  those  elements 
would  begin  to  operate.     The  slaves  would  rise,  and  there  would  be 

*Lewis  Cass  (born  in  Exeter,  N.H.,  Oct.  g,  1782,  died  in  Detroit  June  17,  1866)  was  the  son  of 
Major  Jonathan  Cass  of  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  was  himself  an  officer  in  the  United  States 
army  in  the  War  of  1812,  rising  to  the  rank  of  general  in  1813.  He  soon  became  governor  of  Michi- 
gan Territory,  and  held  that  position  with  credit  and  profit  to  himself  until  President  Jackson  made 
him  Secretary  of  War  in  183 1.  Jackson  sent  him  minister  to  France  in  1836,  where  he  remained  until 
1842,  and  was  an  important  personage.  He  was  in  the  Senate  from  1845  to  184S,  when  he  was  de- 
feated by  General  Taylor  as  candidate  for  President  in  consequence  of  the  formation  of  the  Free-soil 
party  and  the  nomination  of  Van  Buren  and  Adams  at  Buffalo.  Under  Buchanan  he  was  Secretary  of 
State  from  1857  to  December,  i860,  when  he  resigned  because  Buchanan  refused  to  re-enforce  Major 
Anderson  in  Fort  Sumter.     He  supported  the  Union  against  the  South,  and  survived  the  Civil  War. 

t  The  burning  of  the  "  Caroline"  by  the  Canadian  forces  in  the  rebellion  of  1S37  was  long  a  griev- 
ance against  England,  but  was  settled  by  Webster's  treaty  of  1842. 


Io8  AMERICAN    SLAVERY 

no  military  force  to  repress  their  insurrection.  Besides  "  (and  here 
I  got  a  new  idea),  "  the  Western  States  would  not  go  with  the  South, 
because  the  control  of  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  would  then 
belong  to  both  nations.  This  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  probably  Ken- 
tucky would  not  suffer.  They  would  not  let  Mississippi  and  Ten- 
nessee go  with  the  South,  if  so  disposed  ;  for  those  three  States  would 
not  yield  the  control  of  the  mouth  of  the  great  river."  That  is 
very  plausible.  He  regrets  the  course  of  the  Abolitionists,  thinks 
the  condition  of  the  slaves  has  been  made  worse  by  it,  and  that 
in  Virginia  the  abolition  of  slavery  has  been  retarded  by  it.  (He 
does  not  remember  that  Moses  was  near  when  Pharaoh  oppressed 
the  children  of  Israel.)  While  conversing  on  Canada,  I  mentioned 
the  remark  of  an  Englishman  with  whom  I  had  been  talking  lately 
about  the  patriotism  of  the  Canadian  rebels  ;  and  he  quoted  the 
definition  of  "  patriotism  "  by  Dr.  Johnson, —  "  the  last  refuge  of  a 
scoundrel."  Whereupon  General  Cass  quoted  the  remark  of  Horace 
Walpole  (I  think),  who  said,  "  If  you  only  reject  some  imperious 
and  impudent  demand,  up  jumps  a  patriot." 

The  slave  question  was  much  agitated  all  over  the  world  at 
that  time ;  and  Dr.  Earle  in  Paris  often  came  upon  incidents  of 
its  discussion.     He  says  :  — 

Feb.  lo,  1838,  Su7iday. —  Took  the  omnibus  at  11  a.m.  to  go 
to  Anne  Knight's  meeting.  There  was  a  young  man  inside,  to  whom, 
as  he  had  the  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser  in  his  hand,  I  vent- 
ured to  speak.  He  was  a  native  of  Georgia,  he  said,  and  had  spent 
four  years  in  Massachusetts.  He  wished  John  Quincy  Adams  was 
dead.  "  No,  I  don't  wish  any  person  dead  ;  but  I  should  like  some- 
thing to  occur  to  throw  him  out  of  Congress."  A  moment  after  he 
said,  "Garrison  ought  to  be  hung  or  else  imprisoned  for  life."  He 
admitted  that  the  answer  of  Mr.  Adams  to  Waddy  Thompson,  of 
South  Carolina,  after  the  introduction  of  the  resolution  to  expel  Mr. 
Adams  from  the  House  of  Representatives  last  winter,  was  the  best 
thing  of  the  kind  he  ever  read.*  I  asked  him  to  go  to  the  meeting, 
and  hear  Elizabeth  Fry.     He  went  with  me,  and  said  he  liked  her 

*  In  February,  1S37,  '^I''-  Adams  (bom  July  1 1,  1767,  died  Feb.  23,  1848),  who  had  been  a  member  of 
Congress  from  Massachusetts,  after  leaving  the  Presidency  in  1829,  was  successful  in  defeating  a  vote 
of  expulsion  offered  in  consequence  of  his  presenting  anti-slavery  petitions.  His  eloquence  and 
courage  were  remarkable,  and  he  had  frequent  occasion  for  their  exercise  in  the  long  contest  for  the 
right  of  petition  which  he  kept  up  against  the  Southern  slave-owners  and  their  Northern  allies. 


1837-1839  I09 

preaching  very  well.  About  twenty-five  were  at  this  meeting ;  and 
Mrs.  Fry  began  her  sermon  with  the  texts,  "  Say  to  the  North,  Give 
up,  and  to  the  South,  Hold  not  back,"  and  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
who  labor,  etc."  I  afterwards  dined  and  spent  the  evening  with 
Isaac  Sargent  and  family  in  company  with  Anne  Knight.  She  thinks 
Lord  Brougham  a  traitor  to  the  cause  of  the  Abolitionists,  and  says 
that  by  their  means  he  climbed  the  ladder  of  fame,  and,  having 
reached  the  top,  forgot  his  former  zeal.  She  further  quoted  some 
one  who  was  present  in  the  House  of  Lords  when  he  presented  the 
famous  Ladies'  Petition  some  four  years  ago,  and  who  said  he  did  it 
with  very  much  the  air  of  a  school-boy  going  to  be  whipped.  This  is 
the  first  time  I  have  heard  that  noble  lord  spoken  of  in  such  terms. 
Late  in  the  evening  Dr.  Godfrey,  of  London,  invited  me  to  meeting 
on  the  12th  at  the  house  of  a  Wesleyan  clergyman,  who  lives  here  as 
superintendent  of  missionary  stations  in  France. 

February  12. —  I  accompanied  Dr.  Godfrey  to  the  meeting,  where 
about  forty  were  present,  among  them  several  young  physicians  of 
my  acquaintance.  After  the  cake  and  tea  had  been  passed,  during 
which  there  was  the  sociability  of  a  tea-party,  Mrs.  Fry  gave  an 
account  of  her  visits  to  five  of  the  Parisian  prisons,  where  she  had 
been  the  preceding  week.  She  had  found  but  little  wanting  in 
them,  so  far  as  personal  comfort  is  concerned,  but  a  total  destitu- 
tion of  the  means  of  moral  and  religious  instruction.  They  are  thus 
superior  to  the  English  prisons  in  comfort,  but  inferior  in  moral  cult- 
ure. Josiah  Forster  spoke  at  considerable  length  upon  slavery  and 
the  slave-trade,  giving  a  particular  account  of  the  existing  state  of 
the  trade  and  of  the  horrors  of  the  middle  passage. 

March  28. —  Last  First  Day  I  attended  the  meeting  at  Anne 
Knight's,  and  was  agreeably  surprised  in  finding  there  some  English 
Friends,  with  whom  I  became   acquainted  in    London.     They    are 

Robert  Ware  Fox,  his  wife,  two  young  Foxes,  their  daughters, 

Fox,  brother  of  Robert,  his  wife,  and  a  grand-daughter.  They  reside 
at  Penjerrick,  near  Falmouth,  where  R.  W.  Fox  is  the  American  con- 
sul. After  a  sojourn  of  a  few  days  in  Paris  they  go  to  Switzerland, 
after  a  tour  in  France. 

April. —  The  Foxes  have  gone  to  Southern  France.  Robert  Fox 
has  much  celebrity  as  a  man  of  scientific  acquirements.  His  brother 
is  less  known  in  the  same  line.  I  am  enchanted  (to  use  a  word 
altogether  French)  with  their  families.     They  are  all  very  intelligent. 


no  THE  ARNOLDS  OF  NEW  BEDFORD 

My  friend  Sargent  and  I  accompanied  them  one  day  to  Notre  Dame 
and  the  manufactory  of  the  Gobelin  tapestry. 

In  Paris  Dr.  Earle  met  a  lady  from  New  Bedford,  with  whom 
he  soon  became  intimate.  Why  they  never  married  is  not  per- 
fectly known  ;  the  acquaintance  continued  for  years ;  and  the 
recollection  of  Elizabeth  Arnold  may  have  prevented  any  sub- 
sequent engagement.     He  says  :  — 

Faf'is,  April  21,  1838. —  A  few  days  ago  I  met  at  Anne  Knight's 
a  lady  whom  I  had  several  times  seen  at  the  reunions  while  Elizabeth 
Fry  was  here.  We  had  even  conversed,  each  remaining  ignorant  of 
the  other's  name,  and  each  supposing  the  other  to  be  English.  This 
day  A.  Knight  said  to  me,  "  This  lady  is  from  thy  country."  That 
was  enough,  and  we  began  to  talk.  She  said  she  was  from  New 
England.  I  said  I  was.  She  then  declared  she  was  from  Massachu- 
setts. "That  is  my  native  State."  "I  know  well  by  reputation 
persons  of  your  name,"  said  she,  having  learned  my  name  from 
A.  Knight;  "and  my  father  is  acquainted  with  them."  "Who?" 
I  asked.  "  Oh,  there  was  a  Pliny  Earle  and  a  Silas  Earle."  "  Just 
so.  I  am  the  son  of  Pliny  and  the  nephew  of  Silas."  "  From  what 
place  are  you?"  "From  New  Bedford.  Are  you  acquainted  with 
Thomas  Greene,  who  lives  there  ?  "  "  Yes,  very  well.  I  have  often 
heard  him  speak  of  a  Mr.  Earle  M'ho  is  a  conchologist."  "That  is 
my  brother  Milton;  but  your  name,  if  you  please?"  "It  is  Ar- 
nold." (She  is  the  wife  of  James  Arnold,  who  returned  to  New 
Bedford  in  the  fall ;  while  she  and  her  daughter  Elizabeth  have 
passed  the  winter  in  Paris.) 

This  acquaintance  thus  begun  was  kept  up  in  England  in 
June,  whither  the  Arnolds  went  in  May,  and  Dr.  Earle  soon 
after,  as  already  mentioned. 

The  Arnolds  early  in  June  went  from  London  to  Holland  for 
a  few  weeks,  then  came  back  to  England  for  a  tour  through 
the  southern  counties,  and  soon  afterwards  returned  to  New 
Bedford ;  while  the  young  physician,  freed  from  his  medical 
pursuits  in  France,  went  also  to  Holland,  and  then  to  Switzer- 
land and  Italy.  In  communicating  this  plan  of  travel  to  his 
sisters  Lucy  and  Eliza  at  Leicester,  he  said  :  — 


I837-I839  III 

For  some  months  I  have  regarded  a  journey  through  the  south 
of  Europe  as  a  labor  Httle  to  be  desired,  and  yet  I  have  a  pencha?it  to 
go.  I  wish  to  see  the  Eternal  City:  it  would  gratify  me  to  stand  on 
the  Acropolis.  But,  to  travel  through  Holland,  Switzerland,  Italy, 
and  Greece,  time  will  be  required.  To  see  those  countries  well,  I 
should  have  at  least  a  year.  You  will  perceive,  then,  that  I  cannot 
return  to  America  next  autumn.  But  it  is  my  intention  to  return 
early  in  the  spring  of  1839. 

This  plan  he  began  to  carry  out  by  a  visit  to  Holland  and 
Belgium  in  July,  1838.     He  says,  writing  in  August :  — 

James  Arnold  gave  me  a  letter  to  John  S.  Mollet,  a  Friend  who 
resides  in  Amsterdam,  the  only  member  of  our  society  in  that  city. 
I  found  him  without  occupation,  a  man  of  leisure ;  and  he  accom- 
panied me  to  the  public  institutions  and  the  curiosities  of  Amsterdam. 
It  was  particularly  agreeable  thus  to  find  a  friend  in  a  country  where 
I  did  not  understand  the  language.  I  also  made  there  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Ramon  de  la  Sagra,  a  Spaniard  of  celebrity,  who  travelled 
in  the  United  States  in  the  summer  of  1835,  ^.nd  published  an 
account  of  his  journey  in  a  book  of  five  hundred  pages.  He  was 
twice  in  Worcester,  where  he  visited  the  hall  of  the  American  Anti- 
quarian Society  and  the  State  Lunatic  Hospital.  He  was  enchanted 
with  America,  and  speaks  complimentarily  of  Dr.  Woodward,  the 
hospital  superintendent.  I  had  intended  to  go  up  the  Rhine  to 
Switzerland,  but  was  ill  in  Belgium,  and  remained  several  days  in 
Antwerp  in  the  hope  of  full  recovery,  but  at  length  decided  to 
return  to  Paris,  where  I  am  not  yet  (August  15)  entirely  well. 

Aug.  26,  1838.  —  I  have  been  occupying  myself  in  illness  by 
reading  the  French  "  History  of  the  Revolution,"  by  M.  Thiers,  the 
journalist  turned  statesman.  It  is  in  eight  volumes,  and  I  am  now 
in  the  third.  Interesting,  but  rather  too  minute  in  detail.  Several 
of  my  Paris  friends  call,  too,  and  thus  help  to  relieve  the  ennui  of 
the  sick-room.  Dr.  Kean,  of  Providence,  who  lives  very  near,  comes 
in  two  or  three  times  a  day.  He  is  un  bon  e7tfa?it,  as  the  Savoyard 
says,  who  has  the  care  of  my  chamber.  Then  I  have  a  young  Irish 
friend,  a  physician,  who  first  came  to  Paris  three  years  ago, 
before  he  studied  medicine,  to  withdraw  himself  from  painful  asso- 
ciations, after  the  death  of  a  young  lady  to  whom  he  was  affianced. 
Time,  that  potent  physician,  seems  to  have  brought  him  solace.     He 


112  FRIENDS    OF    DR.   EARLE    IN    PARIS 

was  with  me  yesterday  nearly  five  hours,  relating  many  anecdotes  of 
O'Connell,  the  great  agitator,  and  giving  me  much  information  about 
the  manners  and  customs  of  his  countrymen.  To-day  he  has  been 
here  an  hour  and  a  half,  in  high  spirits,  and  kept  me  laughing,  some- 
times to  tears,  almost  the  whole  time.  He  told  many  anecdotes  of 
Dean  Swift,  of  Curran,  and  of  his  own  Irish  acquaintance.  A  third 
friend  is  another  Irish  physician.  Dr.  Newenham,  who  was  educated 
in  German  schools.  Handsome  in  person,  in  intellect  highly  cul- 
tivated, and  endowed  with  all  the  moral  virtues,  he  is  physically 
small,  somewhat  effeminate,  and  of  a  very  mild  disposition.  But  he 
is  an  enthusiast ;  and  his  conversation,  enlivened  by  all  the  gesticula- 
tion of  the  French  people,  is  particularly  attractive.  A  fourth  friend 
is  an  English  physician,  young,  highly  gifted,  enthusiastic,  and  some- 
what chimerical.  I  first  met  him  in  this  Hotel  de  la  Place  de 
rOdeon,  the  second  day  after  I  took  these  rooms  last  year.  Since 
that  time  (little  more  than  a  year)  he  has  shown  me  the  titles  of  four 
or  five  books  which  he  is  going  to  write.  One  is  to  be  a  large 
medical  work  in  several  volumes  ;  another  upon  PHat  populaire,  or 
the  lower  classes  of  the  people  of  Paris  ;  a  third,  in  opposition  to  the 
national  church  of  England ;  fourth,  a  code  of  laws  or  system  of 
government,  under  which  nobody  would  be  oppressed  or  unhappy. 
While  generally  pursuing  his  studies  in  the  hospitals,  he  also  has  had 
his  thoughts  upon  the  future.  At  one  time  he  is  going  to  serve  in 
the  army,  at  another  in  the  navy.  Sometimes  he  meditates  the  life 
of  a  recluse,  in  which  he  can  study,  write,  become  renowned,  and 
render  great  service  to  science  and  mankind.  Sometimes  he  intends 
to  marry,  and  live  a  country  life  in  England ;  and  again  he  is  going 
to  start  off,  with  some  friends,  immediately  for  New  Holland,  there 
to  found  a  colony  under  the  beneficent  system  just  mentioned.  Such 
a  medley  bespeaks  the  lunatic,  or  the  man  of  brilliant  imagination,  or 
else  a  particularly  active  and  vivacious  mind,  or,  finally,  a  lover.  I 
think  that  in  this  case  there  is  a  little  of  the  last. 

August  31. —  The  Parisians  are  now  making  a  great  noise  over  the 
birth  of  the  high  and  mighty  Louis  Philippe  Albert,  Count  of  Paris, 
and  son  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans.  On  the  28th  the  king  and  the 
royal  family  attended  a  "Te  Deum  "  at  Notre  Dame;  and  the  next 
day  there  was  a  grand  fete,  similar  to  those  of  May  i  and  July  29. 

The  "  Acte  de  Naissance,"  which  is  published  in  the  journals, 
signed  by  members  of  the  royal  family  and  the  ministers  who  were 


1837-1839  113 

present  at  the  birth,  is  a  curiosity.  The  municipal  government  of 
Paris  has  presented  the  baby  with  a  sword  costing  35,000  francs 
($7,000).     The  little  fellow  would  make  a  droll  figure  wearing  it, 

Sept.  14,  1838.  —  Since  I  returned  to  Paris  in  July  I  have 
read  "  Belgium  and  Germany,"  in  two  volumes,  and  "  Paris  and  the 
Parisians,"  in  three,  both  by  Mrs.  Trollope,  "  Homeward  Bound,"  by 
Cooper,  and  five  volumes  of  Thiers's  "  French  Revolution,"  to  say 
nothing  of  Galignani's  Messejiger,  Le  Siede,  and  other  daily  news- 
papers, or  of  two  volumes  of  the  Londo?i  Keepsake,  brought  in  by 
my  good  friend,  Dr.  Newenham.  My  friends  continue  their  frequent 
visits,  some  in  the  morning,  some  in  the  afternoon,  others  in  the 
evening.  Indeed,  my  chamber  has  become  an  evening  rendezvous, 
where  are  generally  three  or  four  persons.  Dr.  Spencer  has  missed 
but  one  evening  in  the  last  ten  days. 

Paris,  October  26.  —  It  is  now  past  11  p.m.,  and  I  am  expect- 
ing to  leave  Paris  in  the  diligence  at  seven  to-morrow  morning.  My 
place  is  taken,  my  trunks  packed,  for  a  three  days'  journey  day  and 
night  in  succession.  ...  I  have  given  up  the  idea  of  going  further 
east  than  Venice  and  further  south  than  Naples  and  Paestum.  I 
devote  three  months  to  Italy,  and  three  here  in  the  spring,  and  mean 
to  sail  from  Havre  about  the  ist  of  May,  1839;  ^^^^  ^s,  six  months 
from  now. 

This  plan  was  much  altered,  as  will  be  seen ;  and  before 
Christmas  Dr.  Earle  was  in  Constantinople,  where,  he  says, 
"my  eyes  rested  on  St.  Sophia  and  her  sister  mosques  in  the 
city  of  Mahound,  and  I  wandered  through  the  streets  of  Stam- 
boul,  among  congregated  thousands  of  the  nations  of  the  East, 
where  everything  is  novel, —  now  admiring,  now  deploring." 
His  diary  thus  continues  :  — 

Nov.  I,  1838. —  After  three  and  a  half  days'  travel  by  way  of  Dijon 
and  over  the  Jura,  day  and  night,  I  arrived  here  October  30  (at 
Geneva),  situated  not  only  upon  the  blue  and  rushing  Rhone,  but 
also  on 

Clear  placid  Leman,  thy  contrasted  lake 

With  the  wild  world  I  dwelt  in, 

as  you  remember  Byron  says  in  "  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage,"  where 
also  he  mentions  Ferney,  the  residence  of   Voltaire,  which  I  have 


114  SWITZERLAND    IN    1838 

visited.  Did  I  speak  in  my  letters  from  England  of  a  Dr.  Fauconnet, 
who  boarded  at  John  Burtt's  when  I  did  last  year?  Well,  after 
travels  in  Scotland,  Ireland,  Germany,  and  Austria,  he  has  returned 
to  his  home  near  Geneva,  where  I  found  him  yesterday ;  and  he  has 
the  kindness  to  act  as  cicerone  for  me.  His  father  died  recently ; 
but  he  still  lives  with  his  mother  and  sister  (the  handsomest  girl  in 
Switzerland)  in  a  pretty  little  cottage  among  the  environs  of  Geneva. 
I  have  taken  tea  and  spent  the  evening  with  him  and  them.  Their 
house  is  surrounded  by  an  ample  garden  of  flowers  and  fruits,  and 
overlooks  the  lake,  whose  waters  dash  but  a  dozen  rods  away. 

St.  Maiirice,  November  4. —  Leaving  Geneva  by  steamboat,  I  went 
up  the  lake  by  Lausanne,  Clarens,  Montreux,  etc.,  to  Villeneuve,  at 
the  place  where  the  Rhone  enters  the  lake,  and  thence  went  back  a 
short  distance  to  the  Castle  of  Chillon.  I  was  conducted  through 
that  by  a  French-speaking  woman,  whose  tongue  ran  as  fast  as  a 
locomotive,  going  two  ways  at  once.  She  told  me  the  history  of  a 
young  man  who  was  imprisoned  there  at  the  same  time  with  Bonni- 
vard  (who  was  Byron's  "  Prisoner  of  Chillon  "),  making  a  tale  which, 
in  the  hands  of  Byron,  might  have  equalled  any  of  his  poems.  She 
added  that  the  person  who  showed  Byron  and  Shelley  through 
Chillon  neglected  to  tell  them  this. 

From  Villeneuve  I  came  to  this  place,  a  most  romantically  wild 
and  picturesque  situation  in  the  valley  of  the  upper  Rhone.  Suppose 
the  village  church,  with  its  steeple  as  tall  as  that  of  Worcester  Old 
South,  with  a  huge  rock  rising  perpendicular  beside  it  and  towering 
high  above  the  steeple, —  a  rock  which  would  put  any  of  ours  in 
Worcester  County  to  the  blush, —  and  yet  small  enough  to  wish  to 
hide  itself  when  placed  beside  those  I  shall  see  in  crossing  the 
Simplon.  St.  Maurice  is  all  at  the  foot  of  this  rock ;  and  here  the 
two  routes  from  Geneva  to  the  Simplon  intersect,  the  one  passing 
round  the  lake  and  up  the  Rhone  valley,  as  I  came,  the  other,  con- 
structed in  part  by  Napoleon  in  his  passage  from  Geneva  to  Milan, 
over  the  Simplon,  running  through  Douvaine,  Thonon,  and  Bouveret, 
and  thence  up  the  Rhone  valley  to  St.  Maurice.  From  here  I  follow 
Napoleon's  route  to  Milan. 

Milan,  November,  1838. —  My  companions  from  St.  Maurice  in  the 
diligence  were  a  young  Swiss  merchant  going  to  Milan  and  a  young 
Italian  widow  from  Udine,  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Adriatic,  return- 
ing from  Geneva  to   her  native   town.     We  filled   the  coupe'  of  the 


1837-1839  115 

vehicle  until  we  arrived  at  the  frontier  of  Sardinia,  where  the  young 
Swiss  was  stopped,  likely  to  be  detained  fifteen  days  because  his  pass- 
port was  not  €71  regie, —  a  specimen  of  the  beauties  of  monarchical 
government.  At  Dorao  d'  Ossola,  the  next  town  where  we  stayed  after 
passing  the  frontier,  his  place  was  taken  by  two  young  Catholic 
priests,  seventeen  years  old  (we  now  had  an  Italian  diligence  which 
holds  six  passengers,  as  did  that  English  one  mentioned  in  the  Anti- 
Jacobin, — 

So  down  thy  hill,  romantic  Ashbourne,  glides, 

The  Derby  dilly,  carrv'ing  six  insides), 

one  of  whom  resembled  our  ideas  of  a  priest  as  much  as  chalk  does 
cheese.  He  was  one  of  the  handsomest  youths  I  ever  saw,  with  a 
noble  head,  and  features  in  which  manly  firmness  and  dignity  were 
admirably  mingled  with  effeminate  beauty.  He  was  in  the  sacerdotal 
robe,  with  a  hat  as  large  as  that  formerly  worn  by  Friend  Ichabod 
Sylvester,  and  differing  from  that  only  in  being  cocked  tricorne.  Qi 
French  birth,  but  educated  in  Italy,  he  spoke  the  two  languages  with 
the  greatest  fluency ;  and,  what  with  talking,  laughing,  and  taking 
snuff,  he  succeeded  in  occupying  every  moment.  He  was  none  of 
your  delicate  snuff-takers,  either,  who  must  have  the  black  maccoboy. 
On  the  contrary,  he  used  the  common  yellow,  taken  in  such  quantities 
that  his  upper  lip  was  the  color  of  a  pumpkin,  and  seemingly  per- 
manently stained ;  for,  when  wiped  with  his  handkerchief,  it  was  not 
changed  in  color. 

At  the  tavern,  in  the  village  of  Simplon,  which  stands  at  a  height 
(4,856  feet)  1,500  feet  higher  than  the  top  of  Monadnoc,  we  saw  an 
English  family  of  six  persons  who  had  been  detained  there  a  week 
because  their  passport  had  not  been  properly  signed.  Descending 
from  here,  I  once  felt  greatly  in  danger.  In  most  places  this  road 
over  the  Alps  has  no  fence  upon  the  dangerous  side,  even  where  the 
precipice  is  of  the  greatest  height,  with  a  yawning  gulf  on  one  side 
and  an  overshadowing  mountain  cliff  on  the  other.  There  are  only 
stone  posts,  two  feet  high  and  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  asunder,  forming 
a  very  imperfect  barrier  ;  and  in  places  the  road  turns  very  short  and 
at  less  than  a  right  angle.  We  were  going  at  a  brisk  trot,  the  road 
steep,  when  we  came  to  one  of  these  short  turns.  The  German 
postilion  pulled  the  rein  of  his  horse,  when  snap  !  went  the  strap 
which  tied  the  heads  of  the  two  horses  together.  With  such  a 
harness  as  we  had  (it  would  disgrace  the  plough-horse  of  a  good 


Il6  DR.    EARLE    IN    MILAN 

New  England  farmer),  this  was  the  failing  of  an  important  part.  The 
off-horse  was  left  perfectly  beyond  control,  and,  instead  of  turning 
as  he  ought,  he  took  Davy  Crockett's  advice,*  and  went  straight 
ahead.  I  never  shall  forget  that  moment.  Having  taken  a  seat 
with  our  German  guide,  I  could  see  all  that  passed,  as  well  as  the 
horrid  gulf  below  us.  The  blood  rushed  to  my  heart,  my  sight 
became  dim,  and  my  limbs  as  feeble  as  an  infant's.  The  risk  was 
enough  to  rouse  our  phlegmatic  guide  ;  and,  by  dint  of  his  swearing, 
and  the  mastery  by  the  postilion  of  the  horse  he  was  bestriding,  we 
succeeded  in  turning  just  in  time  to  shun  the  guard-posts. 

I  know  of  no  view  more  lovely  than  that  from  the  top  of  the 
central  spire  of  the  great  marble  cathedral  of  Milan,  which  I 
ascended  one  day.  While  enjoying  it,  I  was  joined  by  a  party  of 
Italian  ladies  and  gentlemen,  one  of  whom  at  once  asked  me,  in 
French,  if  I  was  a  Russian.  "  No,  I  am  an  American."  "  0,0,0! 
ella  e  Americano  "  (third  person  feminine  instead  of  masculine  for 
"  He  is,"  agreeably  to  Italian  usage)  burst  from  the  mouths  of  two 
or  three  at  once.  One  of  the  men  spoke  English,  and  had  been  in 
England.  He  said  they  took  me  for  a  Russian  because  many  from 
that  country  are  now  in  Milan,  in  the  suite  of  the  crown  prince  of 
Russia.  Had  I  been  a  brother,  I  could  not  have  expected  so  much 
attention  as  I  received  from  this  Italian  party.  They  were  going  to 
the  imperial  palace  to  see  the  apartments,  and  invited  me  to  go  with 
them.  I  went  with  them  through  the  richest  suite  of  rooms  I  have 
yet  seen ;  and  then  one  of  the  party,  a  physician,  invited  me  home 
with  him.  I  accepted,  and  the  next  day  he  went  with  me  to  the 
hospital,  etc.  (Query. —  Would  an  Italian,  encountered  for  the  first 
time  by  a  party  of  Bostonians  in  the  cupola  of  the  State  House, 
receive  similar  attentions  ?) 

It  will  sufficiently  appear  already  that  the  young  American, 
with  all  his  modesty,  and  really  by  virtue  of  it,  was  a  charming 
person  to  the  Europeans  whom  he  encountered,  since  he  was 
everywhere  welcomed  and  made  at  home.  At  that  time  the 
number  of  his  countrymen  travelling  in  Europe  was  not  large ; 
and  the  rapid  growth  of  liberal  political  sentiment,  by  reaction 
from  the  repression  and  police  surveillance  which  followed  the 

•The  Tennessee  marksman,  whose  legendary  sayings  were  once  common  in  America;  among 
others,  "  First  make  sure  you're  right,  tlien  go  ahead." 


1837-1839  117 

Napoleonic  wars  and  the  Greek  Revolution,  had  made  the 
republicanism  of  the  United  States  much  in  favor  among  the 
educated  men  of  the  Continent.  Nor  would  it  have  been  easy 
to  find  a  better  representative  of  the  republican  simplicity 
which  America  was  then  thought  to  favor  than  was  this 
Massachusetts  Quaker,  fresh  from  the  home  of  Franklin  in 
Philadelphia. 

Venice,  Dec.  i,  1838. —  The  Italian  widow,  who  joined  our  travelling 
party  at  St.  Maurice,  came  in  company  with  me  as  far  as  Venice ; 
and,  upon  parting,  she  gave  me  a  handsome  bead  purse  in  return  for 
my  kindness, —  '■^per  la  vostra  bonta^  She  speaks  French  well ;  but 
I  requested  her  to  talk  Italian  with  me,  so  that,  from  conversing 
with  her  and  other  passengers,  I  became  enabled,  not  parlare  niolto 
bene,  but  un  poco,  before  reaching  this  seat  of  the  Queen  of  the 
Adriatic.  Before  arriving  here,  I  had  not  sufficiently  learned  one 
truth, —  that  reading  poetry,  or  poetical  descriptions  of  places,  or 
looking  at  engravings  (flattered  views,  as  they  are  nowadays),  is  one 
thing,  but  visiting  the  reality  is  quite  another.  I  had  expected,  not 
withstanding  the  assertion  of  Byron, — 

In  Venice  Tasso's  echoes  are  no  more. 
And  silent  rows  the  songless  gondolier, — 

to  find  the  Venetian  boatmen  altogether  composed  of  poetry.  But 
the  kaleidoscope  has  turned  :  the  picture  is  changed,  and  I  behold  it 
now  in  all  the  sublimity  of  truth.  I  do  not  recollect  to  have  felt 
actually  in  danger  but  twice  since  I  left  Leicester, —  on  the  Alps,  as 
already  described,  and  here  just  before  I  was  setting  forth  for 
Greece.  I  had  some  difficulty  with  a  gondolier,  about  sunset, 
because  I  would  not  pay  him  twice  as  much  as  he  had  agreed  to 
work  for.  He  had  threatened  me  severely,  and,  finally,  on  leaving, 
told  me  I  should  have  trouble  in  getting  to  the  steamboat,  which,  as 
in  nine-tenths  of  the  European  ports,  lay  at  anchor  some  distance 
from  the  shore.  In  order  to  avoid  danger,  I  asked  my  landlord  to 
get  me  another  gondolier  from  another  part  of  the  city,  which  he  did. 
I  still  feared  a  coalition  with  other  gondoliers,  but  go  I  must.  The 
price  was  agreed  upon  (being  twice  as  much  as  an  Italian  would 
have  paid),  and  I  got  into  his  gondola.  It  was  ten  o'clock,  the  moon 
not  risen ;  and,  consequently,  it  was  dark.     Off  we  set,  the  gondolier 


Il8  VENICE    AND    NAPLES 

rowing  through  a  series  of  canals  about  ten  feet  wide,  unlighted,  and 
bordered  on  both  sides  with  stone  houses  rising  directly  from  the 
water,  five  or  six  stories  high.  Not  a  lighted  window  was  to  be  seen, 
and  nothing  heard  but  the  rippling  water.  My  luggage  might  have 
been  temptation  enough,  I  thought,  particularly  after  what  had 
passed  that  day,  to  place  me  where  the  waters  would  leave  no 
record.  I  never  breathed  more  freely  than  when  we  emerged  from 
these  narrow  canals  into  the  Grand  Canal,  near  its  junction  with  the 
Giudecca.  The  gondolier  now  stopped  his  boat,  came  to  the  window 
of  the  little  cabin  in  which  I  sat,  and  said,  "  If  you  will  pay  me  two 
zwantzigers  [twice  what  I  had  agreed],  I'll  row  you  to  the  steamer 
by  way  of  the  Grand  Canal."  I  knew  more  of  the  location  than  the 
fellow  thought ;  for  he  could  not  row  me  any  other  way,  except  by 
going  back  and  rowing  four  or  five  miles  round.  I  told  him  to  row 
along,  I  should  not  give  it.  "  But  it  will  take  an  hour  to  row  there." 
This  "raised  my  Ebenezer,"  for  I  knew  it  would  not  take  more  than 
five  minutes  of  good  rowing.  So  I  mustered  what  Italian  I  had,  and 
reeled  it  off  to  him.  He  took  away  his  head,  muttering ;  but  in 
a  few  minutes   I  was   on  board  the  steamer. 

The  visit  to  Naples  and  Rome  was  postponed  until  Dr. 
Earle  should  have  returned  from  Greece  and  Turkey,  for  which 
he  sailed  in  the  steamer  which  he  thus  boarded  in  the  dark 
waters  of  Venice.  He  reached  Malta  on  his  return  in  January, 
left  it  in  February  for  Syracuse,  Catania,  and  Messina,  touch- 
ing briefly  at  those  ports,  and  sailing  between  Scylla  and 
Charybdis,  and  very  near  the  perpetually  burning  volcanic 
island  of  Stromboli,  the  "  Faro,"  or  lighthouse,  of  Italy,  reached 
Naples  before  March.  A  letter  written  in  Italian  to  his  sisters 
at  Leicester  gives  these  few  particulars  of  his  journey  through 
Western  Italy  and  France,  back  to  Paris,  where  he  arrived 
early  in  April,  1839  :  — 

I  was  ten  days  in  Naples  and  its  vicinity,  visiting  the  chief  places 
of  interest,  in  company  with  three  Englishmen.  We  ascended 
Vesuvius  together  on  a  magnificently  beautiful  day,  and  next  made 
a  journey  of  archaeological  interest  to  Herculaneum,  Pompeii,  and 
Paestum.  From  Naples  I  went  to  Rome  in  thirty-six  hours;  and  the 
journey  from  Rome  to  Florence,  visiting  the  cataract  of  Terni  on  the 


1837-1839  119 

way,  occupied  six  days.  My  stay  in  Rome  was  so  brief,  and  there 
were  so  many  churches,  ruins,  statues,  pictures,  and  other  things  to 
be  seen  in  that  wonderful  city  that  I  was  constantly  occupied. 
From  Florence  my  route  was  down  the  Arno  Valley  to  Pisa  and 
Leghorn,  and  thence  by  steamer  to  Marseilles.  Upon  the  whole,  I 
think  that  in  each  important  city  of  Italy  I  enjoyed  about  as  much 
as  in  boyhood,  when  going  to  the  High  Rock,  to  Bumskit,  or  to  the 
Mill,  to  "go  in  SAvimming." 

From  Marseilles  my  route  was  by  way  of  Avignon,  Lyons,  and 
Chalons,  to  Paris;  and  here  I  am  (April  12)  in  the  same  hotel 
(Place  de  I'Odeon)  which  was  my  home  last  year.  Elizabeth  Fry  is 
again  in  the  city,  but  I  have  not  seen  her  yet.  So  busy  am  I  in 
attending  the  hospitals,  taking  a  course  of  practical  lessons  in 
surgery,  and  in  much  else  that  I  want  to  do  before  leaving  for 
America  that  hitherto  I  have  not  called  on  Dr.  Mott  or  Anne 
Knight. 

It  is  worth  mentioning  that,  although  Charles  Sumner 
arrived  in  Paris  early  in  1838,  and  remained  there  four  months, 
there  is  no  record  in  his  letters  or  those  of  Dr.  Earle  that  they 
ever  met.  They  must  have  done  so  at  the  receptions  of 
General  Cass,  which  both  attended,  and  of  which  both  gave 
striking  accounts.  But  the  pursuits  and  associations  of  the 
two  young  Americans  *  were  then  so  unlike  that  they  can  have 
had  little  in  common.  Afterwards  they  were  good  friends,  and 
often  met  in  Washington.  In  a  few  weeks  after  reaching 
Paris  from  Italy,  Dr.  Earle  sailed  for  America. 

*■  Sumner,  writing  from  Paris,  Feb.  27,  1838,  to  Longfellow,  the  poet,  says:  "Mrs.  Fry  has  been 
at  Paris,  exciting  some  attention  on  the  subject  of  prisons.  The  French,  by  the  way,  are  just  waking 
up  on  that  subject,  and  also  on  that  of  railroads."  So  little  did  he  then  concern  himself  with  a  matter 
that  afterwards  engaged  his  earnest  efforts  that  this  is  the  only  allusion  to  Mrs.  Fry  in  his  published 
letters  from  France  and  England  in  1838-39.  But  he  heard  Louis  and  Magendie  lecture  in  Paris; 
and  of  the  latter  he  says  (Feb.  9,  1838):  "He  is  a  man  apparently  about  fifty"  (in  fact,  fifty-five), 
"rather  short  and  stout,  with  a  countenance  marked  by  the  small-pox.  He  is  renowned  for  killing 
cats  and  dogs :  there  were  no  less  than  three  murdered  dogs  brought  upon  the  table  while  I  was 
there, —  at  the  College  Royal, —  in  order  to  illustrate  the  different  appearance  of  the  blood  at  certain 
times  after  death."  Sumner  also  followed  Velpeau  one  day  through  the  wards  of  the  Charite,  and 
heard  him  lecture  clinically.  Magendie  died  in  1855,  but  Velpeau  lived  till  1867.  The  latter  was  bom 
in  1795,  and  was  twelve  years  younger  than  Magendie. 


CHAPTER  V. 

GREECE,  TURKEY,  AND    MALTA  IN    1 838-39. 

In  November,  1838,  after  travelling  through  Switzerland  and 
Northern  Italy,  Dr.  Earle  sailed  from  Venice  to  Patras,  on  the 
Gulf  of  Lepanto,  at  the  western  entrance  of  the  Gulf  of 
Corinth,  and  thence  proceeded  to  Athens  and  Marathon. 
From  Athens  he  sailed  to  Constantinople,  and  returned  thence 
to  Western  Europe  by  way  of  Malta,  where  he  was  compelled 
to  spend  three  weeks  in  quarantine  in  January,  1839.  Many 
adventures  befell  him  in  this  rather  adventurous  journey;  for 
at  that  time  Greece  was  not  the  quiet  and  civilized  region 
which  the  tourist  now  sees  in  visiting  only  those  places 
reached  by  our  young  physician.     He  says:  — 

At  Patras  I  landed,  a  perfect  stranger,  ignorant  of  the  modern 
Greek  tongue,  but  knowing  there  was  an  American  missionary  there, 
I  walked  into  the  market-place  of  the  town,  where  I  saw  a  man  who, 
I  felt  convinced,  was  an  American,  and  asked  him  if  he  spoke 
English.  "  Yes,  sir."  "  Do  you  know  an  American  missionary 
here  ? "  "I  am  the  man,"  said  he  ;  and  he  went  with  me  to  the 
schools  and  other  places  of  interest  in  the  town.  His  name  is 
Cephas  Pasco,  and  he  came  from  Stafford,  in  Connecticut.  I  dined 
with  him,  and  he  gave  me  letters  of  introduction  for  Athens.  I 
witnessed  here  the  packing  of  the  small  grapes  which  we  call  Zante 
currants,  and  which  grow  in  large  quantities  along  the  Corinthian 
Gulf,  from  Patras  to  Corinth,  as  well  as  in  the  southern  parts  of  the 
Peloponnesus.  It  is  said  that,  if  you  are  to  dine  at  a  tavern,  you 
should  never  look  into  the  kitchen ;  and  a  like  remark  might  be 
made  about  the  packing  and  lading  of  currants.  I  will  only  say  that, 
while  one  man  stands  among  them  as  they  lie  in  a  large  pen  or 
vault,  another,  with  his  naked  feet  well  greased,  gets  into  the  cask 
and  treads  them  down.  Such  as  fall  out  of  the  shovel,  cask,  or  boxes 
upon  the  dusty  pier,  where  they  are  loaded  into  boats,  are  carefully 
swept  up  and  put  in  with  the  others. 


1838-1839  121 

At  Athens  I  made  many  acquaintances.  The  American  mission- 
aries there  were  then  Rev.  J.  H.  Hill  of  New  York,  Rev.  Jonas  King 
of  Windsor,  Mass.,  and  Rev,  Nathan  Benjamin,  also  from  Western 
Massachusetts.  Dr.  Roeser,  the  Bavarian  physician  of  the  Bavarian 
King  of  Greece,  was  my  good  friend ;  and  I  was  indebted  to  him  for 
my  election  into  the  Medical  Society  of  Athens,  of  which  I  have 
ever  since  been  a  member,  and  for  which  I  wrote  a  thesis  while  de- 
tained in  quarantine  at  Malta  in  January.  In  my  first  visit  to  the 
antiquities  of  Athens,  I  went  on  horseback,  though  the  distances 
were  small,  accompanied  by  Messrs.  John  H.  Hill  and  Benjamin. 
From  the  neighborhood  of  Mr.  Hill's  school,  near  the  gate  of  the  new 
Agora  [the  Stoa  of  Hadrian],  we  went  eastward,  and  crossed  the 
Ilissus,  where  no  water  was  then  to  be  seen,  to  the  Stadium  of 
Herodes  Atticus.*  Its  oval  form  is  nearly  perfect,  and  the  tunnel 
through  the  hill  at  its  eastern  extremity,  through  which  the  Pana- 
thenaic  procession  may  have  passed,  remains  ;  but  the  marble  seats 
with  which  its  interior  was  furnished  by  the  wealthy  Herod  of  Attica 
(who  also  had  a  great  estate  at  Marathon  and  along  by  the  sides  of 
Pentelicus)  have  all  disappeared.  The  original  Stadium  was  made 
by  Lycurgus, —  not  the  mythical  Spartan,  but  an  eminent  citizen  of 
Athens,  in  the  fourth  century  B.C.  Returning,  we  entered  a  new 
Protestant  cemetery  [where,  thirty-seven  years  later,  George  Finlay 
was  buried],  and  thence  to  the  terrace  and  ruins  of  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  Olympus,  originally  the  most  magnificent  of  Grecian  temples, 
550  feet  long  and  170  feet  wide,  and  flanked  on  each  of  its  two  sides 
with  a  double  row  of  20  Corinthian  columns,  while  at  each  front  was 
a  triple  row  of  10,  in  all  120  columns,  each  nearly  60  feet  in  height 
and  5/^  in  diameter.  Only  16  of  them  are  now  standing,  and  the 
beauty  of  these  is  disfigured  by  large  holes  chiselled  in  them  for 
the  purpose  of  extracting  the  leaden  and  iron  clamps  which  bound 
the  marble  drums  together.  Yet  some  of  the  flutings  are  still  as 
perfect  as  if  they  came  but  yesterday  from  the  sculptor's  hand. 
Upon  a  small  portion  of  the  architrave  which  remains,  supported 
by  some  of  the  pillars,  I  saw  a  small  building,  of  modern  construc- 
tion, which,  report  says,  was  once  inhabited  by  a  monk.  Near  by 
is  the  Arch  of  Hadrian,  through  which  we  passed,  and  along  by  the 

*This  has  lately  (1S96)  been  restored  by  a  wealthy  Greek,  Mr.  Averoff,  to  something  like  its 
former  magnificence ;  and  his  purpose  is  to  replace  the  temporary  wooden  seats,  from  which  tens  of 
thousands  saw  the  Athenian  games  in  the  spring  of  1896,  by  marble  ones,  hewn  from  the  unexhausted 
quarries  of  Pentelicus,  whence  Herodes  supplied  his  chairs  and  benches. 


122  ATHENS    IN    1838 

military  hospital  to  the  so-called  Prison  of  Socrates, —  small  caves 
hewn  in  the  rock  on  the  declivity  of  a  hill ;  thence  by  the  crumbling 
monument  of  unknown  Philopappus  to  the  Pnyx  Hill,  on  which  pub- 
lic meetings  were  held,  and  where  Demosthenes  and  other  orators 
harangued  their  fellow-citizens.  Standing  there,  the  Athenian  saw 
the  plain  of  Athens  spread  at  his  feet,  the  groves  of  Academus  in 
the  northern  distance,  Hymettus  with  its  lofty  ridges  on  the  right, 
as  he  faced  the  Acropolis,  with  its  costly  magnificence  in  marble 
and  gold.  On  the  left  lay  Salamis,  and  behind  him  the  sea  and 
islands.     This  closed  our  first  day's  sight-seeing. 

Modern  Athens  has  recovered  but  slowly  from  the  dilapidation 
and  depopulation  in  which  the  Turks  left  it  in  1832.  It  then  had 
but  about  2,000  inhabitants,  though  before  the  Revolution  of  182 1 
it  may  have  had  12,000.  Christopher  Wordsworth,  nephew  of  the 
poet  whose  Lake  region  I  visited  in  1837,  was  here  in  October,  1832  ; 
and  his  account  is  dismal  enough.  "The  town  of  Athens,"  he  say, 
"  is  now  lying  in  ruins.  The  streets  are  almost  deserted :  nearly 
all  the  houses  are  without  roofs.  The  churches  are  reduced  to  bare 
walls  and  heaps  of  stone  and  mortar.  There  is  but  one  church  in 
which  service  is  performed.  A  few  new  wooden  houses,  one  or 
two  more  solid  structures,  and  the  two  lines  of  planked  sheds  which 
form  the  bazaar  are  the  inhabited  dwellings  of  which  Athens  can 
boast." 

Things  had  changed  much  for  the  better  in  the  six  years  before 
my  visit.  The  whole  population  of  Greece  was  less  than  800,000, 
but  of  these  some  20,000  were  in  Athens.  The  king,  Otho,  made 
it  his  residence  in  1834,  with  his  court  and  the  foreign  ministers; 
and  a  royal  palace  was  going  up  on  a  great  square,  which  the 
frugal  Greeks  viewed  with  a  rueful  eye,  because  costing  them 
millions  of  their  drachmas.  I  saw  many  comfortable  houses,  and 
some  which  are  even  elegant.  The  finest  building  in  the  city, 
however,  was  a  hospital.  The  most  densely  peopled  part  of  Athens, 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Acropolis,  was  a  mass  of  wretched  buildings, 
most  of  them  but  one  story  and  none  more  than  two  stories.  From 
one  corner  of  this  quarter  ran  the  street  of  -^olus, —  the  Wall  Street 
of  the  city.  There  on  the  sidewalks,  had  there  been  any,  were  men 
and  women  seated  on  the  ground  or  on  low  benches,  some  selling 
oranges,  others  chestnuts,  roast  or  boiled  ;  while  behind  small  tables, 
piled  with  stamped  paper  money  or  bags  of  specie,  sat  the  money- 


1838-1839  123 

changer,  as  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  The  awnings  in  front  of 
the  shops  were  fastened,  not  to  posts  or  supporting  braces,  but  by 
cords  stretched  across  the  street,  and  tied  to  the  opposite  buildings ; 
while  other  cords  spanned  the  same  street,  on  which  clothes  were 
hung  to  dry, —  the  chief  street  being  thus  a  laundry-yard.  Many  of 
the  shops  have  the  whole  front  thrown  open  to  the  street ;  and  in 
them  the  occupants,  particularly  the  tailors  and  tobacco-workers,  sit 
on  the  floor  at  their  trades.  None  of  the  streets  were  paved,  and 
most  of  them  were  filthy.  To  insure  safety  from  the  vile  condition 
of  the  streets  and  also  from  robbery  or  assassination,  every  one  who 
goes  out  in  the  evening  is  required  by  law  to  carry  a  lantern,  as  in 
the  days  of  Diogenes. 

This  custom  once  led  my  friend.  Dr.  Roeser,  into  a  ludicrous 
situation.  Though  the  most  learned  man  in  Athens,  he  was  absent- 
minded,  and  accustomed  to  have  his  evening  lantern  carried  before 
him  by  a  servant.  Being  about  to  leave  an  evening  party,  he  came 
to  the  door  with  hat  and  cane,  and  stepped  into  the  dark  street,  just 
as  a  stranger  with  his  lantern  was  passing.  Mistaking  this  for  his 
man's  lantern.  Dr.  Roeser  followed  it  trustfully.  The  two  had  gone 
some  distance  when  the  stranger,  perceiving  that  he  was  followed  by 
a  man  without  a  light,  quickened  his  step.  So  did  the  doctor.  He 
then  walked  slower.  The  doctor  did  the  same.  Finding,  after  a 
while,  that  his  pursuer  kept  about  the  same  distance  behind,  the  man 
grew  alarmed  and  started  to  run.  So  did  Dr.  Roeser,  and  more 
than  kept  up.  Street  after  street  was  quickly  passed,  and  they  were 
already  in  the  suburbs.  The  open  fields  or  some  place  of  refuge 
were  the  only  alternatives  for  the  shadowed  and  enlightening 
stranger.  He  chose  the  latter.  A  large  door  stood  open.  He  ran 
within,  and  in  the  twinkling  of  his  own  lantern  closed  it  upon  the 
doctor,  creaking  as  it  turned  on  rusty  hinges.  Thus  aroused  to  con- 
sciousness that  something  was  wrong,  Dr.  Roeser  looked  about  him, 
and  found  himself  beneath  the  lofty  portico  of  the  old  temple  of 
Theseus.  When  I  questioned  him  on  the  subject,  he  said  that  he 
ran  because  he  supposed  his  man  was  taking  him  to  some  patient 
whose  case  was  urgent. 

Those  who  had  lived  long  among  the  Greeks  united  in  giving  them 
a  bad  name.  One  of  them  said  to  me,  "  I  cannot  trust  a  Greek  with 
my  back  turned."  As  a  people,  they  seem  to  be  quick-witted,  shrewd, 
but   suspicious,    fickle,  and   treacherous.     Like  most  mountaineers, 


124  ^    VISIT    TO    MARATHON 

they  are  hardy,  bold,  and  independent ;  and,  taking  advantage  of  their 
facilities  for  retreat  beyond  detection,  no  wonder,  when  poverty 
presses  hard  on  a  proud  spirit,  that  they  sometimes  resort  to  rob- 
bery. And  perhaps  there  was  never  a  time  when  the  country  was 
more  infested  with  brigands  than  while  I  was  there.  I  had  been  in 
Athens  but  a  few  days  when  a  policeman  was  killed  and  another 
wounded  in  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  capture  a  band  of  them  on  the 
road  to  Marathon.  Soon  after  two  of  their  leaders  voluntarily  gave 
themselves  up,  vainly  hoping  for  pardon  by  such  a  surrender, —  a 
custom  which  prevailed  under  the  Turks.  I  was  one  day  riding  up 
a  street,  when  I  saw  before  me,  and  near  where  my  street  crosses 
^olus  Street,  a  dense  crowd  of  people ;  while  others  were  rushing 
up.  I  alighted,  pushed  into  the  crowd,  and  soon  saw  what  caused 
the  excitement.  Amidst  a  motley  assemblage  of  red  caps,  black  hats, 
turbans,  fezzes,  mustaches,  long  beards,  and  ferocious  faces,  were 
four  men  mounted  on  donkeys,  their  arms  pinioned,  their  faces  cov- 
ered with  blood,  and  one  of  them  giving  evidence  of  a  wound  by  rude 
dressings,  red  with  blood.  They  were  brigands,  just  captured  near 
the  Marathon  road ;  and  in  the  skirmish  with  soldiers  and  peasants 
one  of  the  robbers  had  been  killed  and  several  wounded. 

Life  is  rarely  taken  by  the  bandits,  who  are  satisfied  with  the  spoils 
without  murder.  But  woe  to  the  unlucky  traveller  whose  purse 
is  not  garnished !  His  life  may  be  granted,  but  he  may  expect  the 
bastinado.  An  English  gentleman  and  artist,  Edward  Noel,  a  cousin 
of  Lady  Byron,  has  an  estate  in  Eubcea  (Achmet  Aga),  bought  from 
the  confiscated  lands  of  the  Turks  when  theyfleft  the  island  in  1834. 
Being  about  to  visit  his  property,  and  knowing  the  dangers  of  the 
road,  he  left  most  of  his  money  in  Athens.  On  the  way  he  was 
beset  by  brigands,  who,  finding  so  little  in  his  purse,  advised  him  to 
carry  more  the  next  journey,  and,  lest  he  should  forget  to  do  so, 
gave  him  a  sound  whipping.* 

In  spite  of  the  brigands  I  determined  to  visit  Marathon,  for 
which  purpose  I  got  a  guide  and  a  pair  of  horses.  My  route  took  me 
through  Kephissia,  at  the  foot  of  Pentelicus,  and  was  good  at  first; 
but  the  last  few  miles  it  was  a  mere  bridle-path,  over  steep  and  lofty 

*  Mr.  Noel  was  also  interested,  in  1870,  in  obtaining  the  release  of  the  Englishmen  seized  by  brig- 
ands at  Pikermi,  a  ravine  on  another  and  shorter  road  to  Marathon  than  that  described.by  Dr.  Earle. 
In  spite  of  his  well-meant  efforts  and  those  of  his  son,  Mr.  Francis  Noel,  who  now  (1898)  owns  the 
Achmet  Aga  estate,  the  Englishmen  were  shot  by  the  brigands;  but  this  led  to  such  vigorous  action 
by  the  Greek  authorities  that  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  roads  to  Marathon  have  been  as  safe  as  that 
from  Worcester  to  Leicester.     I  have  tried  them. —  F.  B.  S. 


1838-1839  125 

hills,  through  deep,  rocky  ravines,  and  in  some  places  as  difficult  for 
a  horse  as  an  ordinary  flight  of  stone  stairs.  Yet  this  was  called  by 
the  Greek  authorities  a  "  carrossable  "  road,  though  you  never  met 
a  carriage  on  it.  Now  and  then  we  encountered  men  or  women, 
sometimes  riding  and  sometimes  driving  laden  beasts,  on  their  way 
to  market;  sometimes  only  a  man  with  a  gun  slung  across  his 
shoulder,  going  to  Athens  or  Kephissia. 

The  country  through  which  our  route  lay  may  thus  be  described 
to  a  Leicester  citizen :  Let  all  the  stone  fences  and  other  en- 
closures be  removed  from  the  three  townships  of  Leicester,  Pax- 
ton,  and  Holden ;  cover  the  hills  and  valleys  with  low  whortle- 
berry bushes  or  the  "high-bush  blueberry";  let  the  cows  be  the 
only  path-makers  —  not  a  single  stone  being  removed  by  man  — 
from  our  house  at  Mulberry  Grove  over  the  top  of  the  Indian  hill 
Asnebumskit,  in  a  nearly  straight  line, —  and  you  will  get  some  con- 
ception of  the  region  and  the  road  by  which  my  guide  and  I  travelled 
on  our  steeds.  However,  in  some  places  it  was  as  much  worse  than 
that  as  that  would  be  worse  than  a  good  English  road ;  and  this  is 
no  exaggeration.  I  took  with  me  as  guide  a  Greek  who  was  recom- 
mended as  being  honest ;  but  at  one  point  I  felt  some  misgivings,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  five  brigands  had  either  been  captured  or  sur- 
rendered to  the  Chorophylakes,  or  gens-d'armes,  since  I  had  reached 
Athens  from  Corfu  and  Patras.  We  were  near  the  foot  of  Mount 
Pentelicus  *  when  this  guide  pretended  to  have  taken  the  wrong  path, 
and  made  off  through  the  bushes  towards  the  mountain.  From  some 
things  which  had  occurred  earlier  I  felt  a  little  suspicious,  and 
now  I  began  to  consider  myself  in  danger.  After  suffering  from 
fears  for  a  while,  I  said  to  myself,  "Well,  I'll  see  it  through,"  and 
was  perfectly  easy  from  that  time  on.  We  soon  came  into  another 
path,  and  reached  Marathon  before  night.  I  spent  the  night  at  the 
village  of  Lower  Souli,  two  miles  from  the  battle-mound,  and  re- 
turned safely  to  Athens  the  next  day.  But  within  forty-eight  hours 
after  my  return  the  three  brigands  already  mentioned  were  brought 

*  Dr.  Earle  was  taking  the  old  route  to  Marathon  (there  are  three),  leading  through  Kephissia, 
Stamata,  and  over  Aphorismos.  His  guide's  perplexity  evidently  arose  from  his  wish  to  take  the  steep 
Vrana  road,  which  branches  off  from  the  Marathona  road,  a  little  west  of  Stamata.  Apparently,  he 
went  finally  down  the  gorge  in  which  lay  the  ancient  deme  of  Thespis,  "  Icaria,''  where  the  American 
School  at  Athens  in  iSSS  excavated  the  remains  of  a  small  temple,  and  identified  the  home  of 
Thespis,  in  whose  traditional  honor  the  region  is  still  called  "  Dionyso,"  his  dramas  having  grown 
up  around  the  festival  of  Dionysus,  the  Grecian  Bacchus,  whose  legends  connect  him  with  this  Mara- 
thonian  region.  Dr.  Earle's  immunity  from  brigands  was  probably  due  to  this  choice  of  roads  by  his 
guide,  safer  than  that  by  Pikermi. 


126  MARATHON    IN    1838 

in  by  the  gens-d'armes  from  the  route  to  Marathon,  where  they  were 
captured  after  a  struggle  in  which  they  were  wounded,  one  of  their 
comrades  killed,  and  several  of  the  Chorophylakes  killed  or  wounded. 
The  field  of  Marathon  is  a  plain  six  miles  long  and  two  or  three 
miles  wnde,  and  nearly  as  level  as  the  surface  of  a  quiet  sea.  On  its 
eastern  side  is  the  Bay  of  Marathon,  beyond  which  rise  the  high 
mountains  of  Negropont.  Its  other  sides  are  shut  in  by  the  Attic 
mountains  of  Argalaki,  Aphorismos  (a  spur  of  Pentelicus),  Kotroni, 
Koraki,  and  on  the  north-east  the  hills  of  Apano-Souli,  which  separate 
Marathon  from  Rhamnus.  When  I  saw  the  battlefield,  a  very  small 
part  of  it  was  rudely  cultivated,  the  rest  covered  with  short  grass, 
except  in  a  few  marshy  places,  where  grew  a  profusion  of  rushes. 
Rude  shepherds  guided  us  to  the  southern  extremity  of  the  plain, 
where  are  the  remains  of  a  few  marble  columns,  which  are  mentioned 
by  Dr.  E.  D.  Clarke  in  his  account  of  the  plain,  visited  by  him  in 
the  beginning  of  the  century.  But  the  tumulus  (Soros)  is  the  most 
striking  object,  a  little  south  of  the  centre  of  the  plain,  broad  at  the 
base,  conical  in  form,  and  from  thirty  to  forty  feet  high.  Some 
shrubbery  and  flowers  grow  near  its  summit,  on  which,  as  I  sat, 
these  lines  depict  the  quiet  of  the  place  :  — 

Here,  as  upon  this  rising  mound 
I  sit  and  cast  my  vision  round, 
'Tis  silence  all,  save  when  a  note 
Comes,  on  the  creeping  breeze  afloat, 
From  yonder  rugged  mountain  rock, 
Where  the  rude  shepherd  guards  his  flock.* 

Twilight  was  already  yielding  to  the  deeper  shades  of  night  when 
we  left  this  mound,  and  pursued  our  way  to  the  village,  two  miles  to 
the  north,  where  we  were  to  pass  the  night.  Arriving  at  the  only 
house  open  to  travellers,  we  ascended  a  flight  of  stone  steps  leading 
(outside)  to  the  second  story,  where  I  remained  in  the  open  air  for 
some  minutes,  while  my  dragoman  went  in  to  ask  for  lodging.  He 
was  absent  some  time,  being  obliged  to  tell  who  we  were,  whence 

•  From  "  Marathon,  and  Other  Poems,"  by  Pliny  Earle,  M.D.,  published  by  Henry  Perkins  at 
Philadelphia  in  1841,  and  containing  many  of  the  verses  the  young  schoolmaster  and  physician  had 
been  writing  and  printing  in  newspapers  and  magazines  since  1830.  They  have  little  merit  as  poetry, 
but  preserve  the  memor)-  of  places  and  persons  that  impressed  themselves  on  Dr.  Earle's  mind  in 
youth.  The  smooth  and  varied  metres  show  the  influence  of  Byron,  Scott,  Willis,  Whittier,  and 
Bryant;  but  there  is  little  originalit>-  of  thought,  though  much  calm  depth  of  feeling.  A  diffuse  prose 
style  also  marks  the  writings  of  the  same  period,  which  I  have  often  shortened  in  quoting. 


1838-1839  127 

we  came,  etc.  Finally,  he  came  out  and  asked  me  to  walk  in.  By 
the  sole  light  of  some  dying  embers  on  the  hearth  I  saw  beside  the 
fireplace  in  one  corner  of  the  room  two  boys  and  a  man  of  say 
forty-five  years,  lying  on  blankets  spread  upon  the  floor ;  while  two 
women,  one  of  them  advanced  in  years,  sat  on  low  stools,  such  as 
that  on  which 

Immortal  Alfred  sat, 
Who  swayed,  the  sceptre  of  his  infant  realms. 

The  other  woman  was  younger  ;  and  there  were  two  seated  men,  appar- 
ently under  thirty.  The  elder  woman  lighted  a  candle,  and  showed 
me  to  an  apartment  seven  feet  by  ten,  with  but  one  window  and  no 
glass,  two  old  chairs,  the  frame  of  a  looking-glass,  and  a  small  pine 
table,  on  which  was  a  goodly  pile  of  coarse  wheaten  loaves,  recently 
from  the  oven.  There  was  no  bed  :  a  mattress  laid  on  the  floor  was 
to  serve.  My  guide  brought  in  a  chicken,  provided  by  him  at 
Athens,  our  landlady  furnished  a  knife,  some  salt,  a  piece  of  goat's- 
milk  cheese,  and  cut  for  us  one  of  the  said  loaves.  I  called  for  a 
tumbler  of  water.  It  was  brought ;  but,  while  I  drank  it,  the  land- 
lady looked  at  me  in  blank  astonishment,  desiring  the  dragoman  to 
tell  me  that  it  would  certainly  make  me  ill,  and  that  wine  was  the 
only  thing  fit  for  a  man's  stomach. 

I  gathered  many  flowers  at  Marathon,  either  at  the  village  in  the 
morning  or  on  the  plain, —  the  anemone,  which  I  had  already  found  on 
the  Areopagus,  and  which  blooms  in  Attica  all  winter,  the  autumn 
crocus,  the  rock  rose,  etc.  In  spring  the  jonquil  blooms  abundantly 
near  the  battlefield.  While  returning  to  Athens  along  the  rapid 
river  that  flows  beside  Marathona,  and  forms  the  marsh  near  the  sea, 
in  which  so  many  of  the  Persians  were  slain,  and  over  the  rocks  of 
Kotroni  and  Aphorismos,  we  stopped  at  a  kapheneion  (cafe)  in 
Kephissia,  and  took  coffee,  a  la  Turqiie^  without  milk.  The  room 
was  thronged  with  men,  most  of  them  smoking,  and  many  appearing 
to  be  under  the  influence  of  the  resin-wine  of  the  country,  which 
they  had  drunk  in  honor  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  day.  There  was 
no  floor ;  but  upon  one  of  the  tables  standing  on  the  earth  I  spread 
my  herbarium,  and,  taking  some  flowers  which  had  been  placed 
in  the  crown  of  my  hat  as  I  came  along,  I  began  to  prepare  them  for 
preservation.  One  of  the  men  came  up,  and  looked  over  my 
shoulder.  He  was  followed  by  another,  he  by  a  third,  and  so  on 
until  my  table  was  surrounded  by  a  group  of  beings  most  ferocious  in 


128  THE    MODERN    GREEKS 

aspect,  but  chattering,  laughing,  and  looking  astonished  that  any 
such  flowers  should  be  thought  valuable.*  The}'  took  up  some  of 
them,  turned  them  over  and  over,  and  examined  them  sharply,  as  if  to 
find  something  remarkable  they  had  never  seen  before  in  these 
flowers  with  which  they  had  been  familiar  from  childhood.  My 
dragoman  then  told  them  a  story  of  the  wonderful  medicinal  proper- 
ties of  such  flowers,  and  the  great  cures  they  might  effect.  There- 
upon the  men  laid  do\\Ti  the  loulouthia  (posies,  the  common  word  for 
all  flowers  in  Greece),  and  began  to  converse  in  lower  tones  and 
with  a  mysterious  air.  Those  who  were  nearest  me  withdrew  a  step 
or  tv\'o,  and  all  gazed  with  their  bloodshot  eyes,  in  still  greater 
wonder. 

Dr.  Earle  was  particularly  struck,  as  most  tourists  have 
been,  with  the  great  attention  paid  to  education  in  Greece.  He 
thought  the  Lancastrian  school  at  Patras  and  a  girls'  school 
there,  which  he  visited,  were  very  satisfactory ;  and  he  much 
admired  the  private  school  for  girls  established  by  Rev.  J.  H. 
Hill  and  his  wife  at  Athens.     In  1838  he  described  it  thus  :  — 

This  school  is  divided  into  five  departments,  and  contains  about 
four  hundred  pupils,  in  a  large  building  near  the  gate  of  the  new 
Agora.  That  department  called  the  "  Troy  Seminary,"  under  the 
care  of  Mrs.  Hill,  is  very  flourishing,  and  is  the  best  school  for  girls 
in  Greece.  It  cannot  fail  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  for  good  in 
both  Greece  and  Turkey  by  sending  forth  so  many  highly  educated 
young  women  where  a  prejudice  against  female  education  has  long 
prevailed.! 

The  Greek  religion,  with  its  pictured  saints,  its  genuflexions, 
ceremonies,  and  antiquated  ritual,  naturally  did  not  please  the 

•  The  collections  of  plants  and  flowers  made  by  Dr.  Earle  in  Greece  and  elsewhere  in  Europe 
gave  him  opportunity  to  send  dried  specimens  to  many  of  his  female  friends  in  America  and 
England,  particularly  to  the  literary  ladies  of  America,  Miss  H.  F.  Gould,  Mrs.  Sigoumey,  Mrs. 
S.  J.  Hale,  Mrs.  Amelia  Welby,  of  Kentucky,  and  others,  who  acknowledged  the  graceful  attention  in 
pleasant  notes  and  sometimes  in  poems.  The  trait  of  childish  curiosity  here  remarked  among  the 
Greeks,  and  their  general  ignorance  of  the  botany  of  their  own  ever-blooming  land,  is  familiar  to  all 
who  travel  in  rural  Greece.  I  had  occasion  to  pass  the  night  at  the  village  of  Marathona  forty-five  years 
after  Dr.  Earle.  It  had  much  grown  and  improved  in  the  interval,  and  the  battle-plain  is  now 
well  cultivated  in  vineyarda. 

t  This  anticipation  has  been  fulfilled ;  and  now  the  education  of  girls  is  carried  as  far  in  Greece  at 
public  expense  as  in  most  nations,  though  only  a  portion  of  them  partake  of  it.  They  have  even 
gained  entrance  to  some  classes  at  the  University  of  Athens;   while  excellent  private  and  endowed 


1838-1839  129 

young  Massachusetts  Quaker;  but  the  native  liberality  of  his 
soul  led  him  to  see  good  in  these  forms,  so  repugnant  to  his 
own  simple  service.     He  says  :  — 

In  Corfu,  then  under  English  control,  where  I  landed  on  the 
voyage  from  Trieste  to  Patras,  I  accompanied  a  young  Greek  to  a 
church,  an  ancient  structure,  miserable  in  its  externals,  but  internally 
rich  and  beautiful.  On  the  walls  were  pictures  of  the  saints,  with 
tapers  burning  before  them.  The  ceiling  was  wrought  with  the 
most  elaborate  carving,  adorned  with  gold  and  paintings  or  mosaics  ; 
while  chandeliers  of  massive  silver  hung  suspended,  with  lighted 
tapers  at  evening  and  on  saints'  days.  On  either  side  of  the  high 
altar  was  a  small  chapel,  entered  from  the  church  by  a  doorway. 
The  body  of  the  church  was  filled  with  such  a  medley  of  beings  as  I 
had  never  before  seen  in  a  place  of  worship.  There,  mingled  to- 
gether in  unspeakable  confusion,  were  riches  and  poverty,  youth  and 
age,  beauty  and  deformity,  the  apparently  devout  and  the  evidently 
indifferent,  those  who  flaunt  in  rags  and  those  who  flutter  in  bro- 
cade. 

The  snowy  caniese  and  the  shaggy  capote 

of  the  Albanian  and  the  Greek,  the  Turkish  robe  and  tvu^ban,  and 
the  stiff  costume  of  Western  Europe.  While  the  priest  performed 
the  service  at  the  altar,  on  the  steps  beside  it  sat  a  young  mother, 
whose  infant  was  lying  before  her  at  the  feet  of  the  image  of  Jesus. 
Crowds  of  people  continually  entered  during  the  service,  approached 
and  kissed  the  images  of  the  saints,  and  then  retired.  Such  as 
remained  long  stood  on  either  side  of  the  church,  with  their  faces 
towards  the  altar.  Nobody  sat.  Many  also  entered  the  side  chapel 
on  the  right,  a  room  so  nearly  dark  that  to  me,  standing  almost  in 
front  of  the  door,  nothing  could  be  distinguished  within  except  a  full- 
length  figure  of  the  Savior,  covered  with  burnished  silver.  This 
picture  shone  in  the  feeble  rays  of  the  one  small  taper  with  which 
the  chapel  was  lighted,  I  joined  the  throng  and  entered  the  door, 
a  grateful  odor  of  roses  and  of  incense  meeting  me  as  I  drew  near, 
and  increasing  as  we  entered.  I  stepped  aside  from  the  doorway  to 
make  room  for  those  who  followed  me ;  but,  though  inside  and 
breathing  the  delightful  fragrance,  I  could  at  first  see  nothing  dis- 

schools  for  girls  exist  in  that  city  of  130,000  people,  besides  the  successors  of  Mrs.  Hill's  school. 
Those  devoted  missionaries  and  their  assistants  have  long  been  dead. 


130  VOYAGE    IN    THE    ARCHIPELAGO 

tinctly  but  the  image  of  the  Savior.  Gradually  the  few  surround- 
ing objects  became  discernible.  Before  me  in  the  centre  of  the 
chapel,  and  so  large  as  to  fill  a  third  part  of  its  area,  was  a  sarcopha- 
gus of  massive  silver,  containing  the  body  of  a  saint,  and  covered 
with  figures  an^d  allegorical  devices,  curiously  wrought.  Old  men 
and  young,  matron  and  maid,  drew  near,  and  kissed  it  with  all  the 
fervor  of  ^joparent  devotion.  Immediately  beside  me,  and  at  the 
foot  of  ^he  sarcophagus,  two  women,  in  convent  garb,  were  kneeling, 
and  ^  motionless  as  if  they  were  marble  statues.  I  had  never 
beeji  in  a  situation  where  external  surroundings  were  better  arranged 
to  waken  a  feeling  of  devotion. 

Returning  to  the  church,  I  took  my  former  position,  but  found  the 
building  thronged  with  beggars.  The  old  and  infirm,  the  youthful 
and  deformed,  the  cripple,  the  madman,  the  moping  idiot, —  in  short, 
all  that  one  ever  meets  of  distortion  in  shape  and  wretchedness  in 
condition,  among  mendicants,  was  there.  They  formed  themselves 
into  a  row,  which  reached  the  whole  distance  round  the  interior  of 
the  church,  and  thus  they  passed  along,  in  pitiable  succession,  im- 
ploring alms,  '■'■per  V  amore  di  Dio,''^  for  the  love  of  God  ;  and  many 
an  obole  or  mezzo-obole  (the  minute  coins  of  the  Ionian  Islands) 
was  dropped  into  hat  or  hand,  to  aid  the  supplicants.  And  thus,  I 
thought,  for  once  in  my  life  have  I  seen,  within  a  Christian  church, 
some  close  approximation  to  that  pure  democracy  which  is  a  domi- 
nant ideal  in  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament. 

After  touching  at  Smyrna,  where  he  visited  the  traditional 
spot  of  Polycarp's  martyrdom,  near  that  Asian  city,  Dr.  Earle 
proceeded  to  Constantinople.  His  mention  of  the  saint's  hold 
on  Mahometans,  as  well  as  Christians,  is  curious  :  — 

Upon  a  declivity  of  the  mountainous  ridge  which  bounds  the  city 
of  Smyrna  to  the  east,  at  a  place  near  the  ancient  walls  command- 
ing an  extensive  and  lovely  view  of  the  bay,  the  town,  and  its 
environs,  there  is  a  solitary  cypress.  Beneath  it,  on  one  side,  is  a 
sepulchral  monument ;  on  the  other,  a  large  stone,  before  which  faith- 
ful Moslem  are  accustomed  to  kneel  in  prayer,  with  faces  directed 
towards  Mecca,  the  "  city  of  the  Prophet."  It  was  here  that  Poly- 
carp,  bishop  of  the  church  at  Smyrna  and  a  disciple  of  Saint  John, 
the  apostle,  suffered  martyrdom.  It  is  further  said,  either  by  this 
tradition   or  by  authentic  history,  that  the  people  who  were  present 


1838-1839  131 

ran  down  the  hill  to  procure  fagots  with  which  to  burn  the  body. 
And  in  December,  1838,  when  I  was  there,  a  magazine  of  fagots, 
near  the  base  of  the  ridge,  was  to  be  seen,  which  had  existed  from 
time  immemorial.  If  it  seems  inconsistent  for  the  Mahometans  to 
pray  at  the  tomb  of  Polycarp,  it  should  be  remembered  that  many  of 
those  whom  Mahomet  wished  to  proselyte  were  Christians,  accus- 
tomed to  worship  their  martyrs ;  and  it  is  a  proof  of  his  sagacity  that 
he  encouraged  what  he  could  not  hope  wholly  to  eradicate. 

It  was  just  after  leaving  Smyrna  in  the  French  steamer 
"Dante,"  on  his  return  to  France,  that  a  view  and  a  colloquy 
occurred  which  left  a  strong  impression  on  the  voyager's  mind, 
from  the  beauty  of  the  one  and  the  oddity  of  the  other.  Those 
who  have  sailed  in  those  seas  in  such  magical  weather  wall 
appreciate  Dr.  Earle's  raptures. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Dec.  31,  1838,  we  were  sailing  between  Scio 
and  Asia  Minor.  The  summits  of  the  Chian  Mountains  lifted  them- 
selves to  the  heavens,  covered  with  snow ;  and,  as  evening  drew  near, 
though  we  had  passed  the  island,  its  mountains  were  still  in  view, 
like  a  blue  cloud,  snow-topped,  resting  on  the  horizon.  The  last 
gUmmering  rays  of  the  sun  lighted  them,  as  he  went  down  behind 
the  dark,  western  waters  of  the  Archipelago.  The  time  and  the 
place  were  adapted  to  a  thousand  pleasing  associations.  Olympus, 
Smyrna,  and  Scio  were  behind  us  ;  and  before  us  was  Greece,  with 
its  exhaustless  store  of  memories.  We  were  carried  back,  in  reverie, 
to  the  days,  in  this  clime,  when  poesy  was  young, —  when  among  those 
sunlit  mountains  Homer  was  tuning  his  harp  or  instructing  his 
pupils  in  the  art  of  song.*  As  the  twilight  shadows  deepened,  the 
moon,  round  as  the  battle-shield  of  the  ancestors  of  Ossian, —  "  O 
thou  thatrollest  in  heaven,  round  as  the  shield  of  my  fathers  !  whence 
hast  thou  thy  beams,  O  Sun?  whence  thy  everlasting  light?"  —  was 
rising  in  the  cloudless  sky.  And  when  the  last  vestige  of  day  had 
departed,  and  heaven  was  illuminated  as  for  a  festival  by  her  milder 
beams,  the  waters  of  the  ^gean  gave  them  brilliantly  back  from  a 
surface  unruffled  by  the  lightest  breeze.  The  air  was  bland ;  and  the 
night,  though  the  last  of  the  year,  might  have  been  mistaken  for  one 

*It  is  on  this  island,  the  ancient  Chios,  that  tradition  places  the  "  School  of  Homer"  ;  and  the 
place  (a  kind  of  theatre)  is  still  shown. 


132  VOYAGE  IN  THE  ARCHIPELAGO 

of  those  which  give  beauty  to  our  earlier  autumn.  The  passengers 
came  up  from  the  cabin  to  enjoy  the  bright  scene  from  the  deck, —  a 
motley  assemblage,  such  as  may  usually  be  seen  on  the  steam-vessels 
that  traverse  the  Eastern  Mediterranean.  Turks,  Greeks,  Armenians, 
Jews,  English,  French,  Italians,  and  Germans  were  among  them, 
even  Egyptians,  Arabs,  and   Algerines. 

Among  them  was  a  Jewish  rabbi,  from  Muscovy,  on  his  way  to 
Italy,  with  a  venerable,  gray-bearded  servant.  He  was  quite  the 
finest-looking  Hebrew  and  one  of  the  handsomest  men  I  ever  saw. 
His  eyes,  brows,  hair,  and  profuse  beard  were  black  as  jet,  his  skin 
light  and  transparent,  his  face  full,  and  his  head  noble.  His  small, 
soft,  white  hand  indicated  an  exemption  from  toil,  of  which  his 
octogenarian  servant  must  have  been  aware  from  sad  experience. 
As  I  paused  in  walking  the  deck  to  look  upwards  and  fix  the  points 
of  the  compass  by  the  North  Star,  the  rabbi  advanced,  and  inquired 
if  I  had  studied  astronomy,  then  put  the  same  question  concerning 
algebra,  geometry,  and  astrology,  and  went  on  to  point  out  the 
mysteries  of  those  sciences,  in  which  he  said  he  was  profoundly 
interested.  Thence  he  advanced  to  the  topic  of  religion,  and  de- 
claimed in  no  measured  terms  against  the  Protestants,  who,  as  he 
believed,  were  seeking  to  revolutionize  the  religious  world.  Having 
uttered  his  anathemas,  he  asked  me  whether  I  was  a  Jew,  a  Catholic, 
or  a  Protestant.  Being  answered,  he  said  no  more  upon  religion ; 
but,  as  if  to  show  that,  though  he  detested  Protestants  as  a  class,  he 
had  no  hostility  to  me  as  an  individual,  he  called  his  servant,  and 
ordered  a  peace-offering, —  not  salt,  but  coffee.  That  venerable  man 
soon  returned,  bringing  two  tumblers  of  the  beverage.  As  I  took 
from  him  the  one  meant  for  me,  I  asked  him  a  question  about  one  of 
the  subjects  we  had  been  discussing.  "No,  no,"  cried  the  rabbi, 
"don't  ask  him  any  question  :  he  is  an  old  fool."  The  rejected 
servant  walked  off  in  silence,  as  if  he  took  for  granted  all  his  master 
said;  while  the  rabbi  sipped  his  coffee.  Then,  looking  cautiously 
about,  to  see  that  no  one  was  near,  he  took  my  hand,  led  me  to  the 
side  of  the  vessel,  and,  as  we  leaned  against  the  taffrail,  said,  "  Ah ! 
I  have  a  great  secret  to  tell  you, —  a  very  great  secret." 

"  And  what  may  it  be  ? " 

"  'Tis  a  most  sublime  and  mysterious  thing  "  (here  his  countenance 
kindled  with  a  smile,  and  his  dark  eyes  turned  towards  the  heavens) : 
"  I  have  discovered  what  the  wise  men  of  all  ages  have  been  seeking 


1838-1839       -  133 

in  vain.     I  have  found  the  means  of  changing  the  baser  metals  into 
gold.     Oh,  it's  a  most  wonderful  thing." 

In  the  long  conversation  that  followed,  I  learned  that  he  professed 
to  have  discovered  the  magic  power  once  ascribed  to  the  chimerical 
philosopher's  stone.  It  actually  resides  in  a  vegetable  growing  near 
Mecca.  The  stalk  of  this  plant,  according  to  hirn,  is  of  a  golden 
color.  Its  flowers  have  the  odor  of  musk.  It  will  operate  (thus  far) 
only  upon  brass,  lead,  silver,  and  mercury.  Iron  has  withstood  its 
operation, —  a  fortunate  circumstance,  I  thought,  since  we  should  be 
quite  too  luxurious,  riding  on  rails  and  driving  ploughshares  made 
of  shining  gold. 

There  are  few  records  of  Dr.  Earle's  visit  to  Constantinople, 
except  those  which  relate  to  the  insane  asylum  there, —  the 
Timar-hane,  then  adjacent  to  the  mosque  of  Suleiman.  His 
companions  in  the  city  of  the  sultan  were  Rev.  William 
Goodell  and  two  other  American  missionaries,  Henry  A. 
Homes,  afterwards  State  Librarian  of  New  York  at  Albany, 
and  William  Schofler ;  Dr.  Millingen  (the  friend  of  Byron,  and 
of  George  Finlay,  who  was  long  the  Sultan's  physician),  and 
Foster  Rhodes,  also  in  the  Sultan's  employ.  Dr,  Millingen 
was  an  Englishman,  of  Dutch  ancestry,  who  had  been  with 
Byron  in  his  last  illness  at  Missolonghi,  afterwards  in  the 
Greek  Revolutionary  army  with  Finlay,  and,  when  captured 
with  the  Greeks,  at  the  taking  of  Navarino  in  1825,  was  in- 
duced or  forced  to  enter  the  service  of  Ibrahim  Pasha,  who  dev- 
astated the  Morea ;  from  which,  after  an  interval,  he  passed 
into  the  employ  of  JMahmoud  at  Constantinople.  He  was  an 
archaeologist,  like  his  father  and  his  descendants,  some  of 
whom  still  remain  at  Constantinople,  where  I  saw  them  in 
1S93.  At  the  time  of  Dr.  Earle's  brief  visit  (December, 
1838)  Dr.  Millingen  had  resided  in  Turkey  more  than  ten 
years ;  and  it  was  through  his  good  offices  that  the  young 
American  was  admitted,  during  the  feast  of  Bairam,  to  the  dis- 
mal corridors  where  the  maniacs  were  chained.  ]\Ir.  Goodell 
and  Mr.  Rhodes  seem  to  have  gone  with  him.  What  he  saw 
there  is  concisely  related  in  his  first  book,  "  A  Visit  to  Thir- 
teen Asylums  for  the  Insane  in  Europe,"  which  he  published 


134  PROFANITY    IN    THE    LEVANT 

as  a  sort  of  certificate  of  his  fitness  to  write  on  the  subject  that 
afterwards  chiefly  employed  his  pen.  But  he  has  left  on  record 
a  few  of  those  pleasant  anecdotes  which  have  been  cited  so 
freely  in  previous  chapters. 

Mr.  Goodell,  one  of  the  American  missionaries  at  Constantinople, 
told  me  there  that  a  very  intelligent  and  pious  Greek  lady,  who  had 
been  converted  to  Protestantism,  and  enjoyed  the  services  at  the 
missionary  meetings,  once  remarked  to  him  that,  though  she  had  no 
acquaintance  with  the  English  language,  she  yet  liked  to  hear  it 
spoken.  "  It  sounds  so  finely,"  she  said,  "  when  uttered  by  those 
who,  in  conversation,  frequently  use  the  phrase,  '  God  d — n  your 
soul,'  "which  the  new  convert  seems  to  have  thought  some  form  of 
blessing.  Mr.  Goodell  explained  to  her  the  real  meaning  of  the 
phrase ;  and,  as  may  be  supposed,  she  was  greatly  shocked  at  her 
mistaking  an  oath  for  the  chief  beauty  of  our  language.  This  re- 
minded me  of  what  happened  on  my  trip  from  Athens  to  Marathon, 
when  my  guide  told  me  he  knew  Greek,  Italian,  French,  and  Ger- 
man, but  no  English.  What  was  my  surprise,  then,  as  we  were  rid- 
ing at  a  brisk  trot  through  the  valley  that  borders  the  northern  base 
of  Pentelicus,*  to  hear  from  him  the  same  startling  curse  which  had 
deceived  the  ear  of  the  convert  of  Constantinople.  It  rang  through 
the  clear  and  silent  air  with  fearful  distinctness.  I  turned  round  to 
ascertain  whence  it  proceeded,  and  saw  that,  my  guide's  horse  hav- 
ing become  unruly,  he  was  attempting  to  calm  him  with  whips,  spurs, 
and  English  imprecations.  "Ah,"  said  I,  "people  generally  learn 
the  worst  things  first." 

The  relations  of  Dr.  Millingen  with  Dr.  Earle  in  1838  did 
not  permit  him  to  learn  in  detail  the  events  of  his  life  among 
the  Turks,  which  had  begun  in  1825  at  the  capture  of  Navarino, 
though  he  did  not  become  official  court  physician  until  a  year 
or  more  after  Dr.  Earle's  visit.  With  the  exception  of  Byron's 
friend,  Trelavvny,  Millingen  was  the  only  Englishman  remain- 
ing in  the  Greek  revolutionary  service  for  some  little  time  after 
Byron's  death,  in  April,  1824,  as  he  says  himself  in  an  account 
from  which  I  now  quote.  Dr.  Millingen  remained  in  Greece 
(1824)  where,  after   recovering   from   the    typhoid    fever   then 

♦This  was  between  Kepliissia  and  Stamata,  before  reaching  where  tlie  path  turns  off  to  the  right 
for  Icaria. 


1838-1839  135 

prevalent  at  Missolonghi,  and  which  attacked  him  soon  after 
Lord  Byron's  death  (probably  a  disease  of  the  same  nature  as 
that  which  proved  fatal  to  the  noble  poet),  he  entered  again 
into  active  service. 

I  was  then  appointed  officially  to  join  the  forces  encamped  at 
Ligovitzi  in  Acarnania,  under  the  command  of  Mavrocordato,  and 
remained  there  until  the  termination  of  that  campaign.  In  1825, 
Navarino  being  closely  besieged  by  the  Egyptian  army  (under  Ibra- 
him Pasha),  and  its  garrison  having  repeatedly,  yet  ineffectually, 
solicited  medical  assistance  in  behalf  of  the  daily  increasing  sick  and 
wounded, —  none  of  the  medical  officers  in  the  Greek  service  proving 
willing  to  undertake  so  arduous  a  mission, —  George  Conduriottis, 
then  president,  invited  me  to  do  so.  I  accepted  his  proposal, 
and,  after  eluding  the  enemy's  vigilance,  succeeded  in  entering 
that  fortress  in  Mavrocordato's  company.  From  that  day,  in  the 
midst  of  the  dangers  of  an  uninterrupted  bombardment  by  land 
and  sea,  I  continued,  unassisted  and  unpaid,  to  perform  the  duties 
incumbent  on  the  physician  and  surgeon,  until,  reduced  to  extrem- 
ities, the  garrison  capitulated,  and,  after  surrendering  its  arms, 
embarked  for  Kalamata.  I  was  detained  by  Ibrahim  Pasha,  when 
on  my  way  to  the  place  of  embarkation.  Nor  did  I  volunteer  into 
his  service,  as  my  detractors  have  said,  as  if,  for  the  sake  of  better 
pay,  I  had  basely  deserted  the  banner  of  the  Cross  to  follow  the 
standard  of  the  Crescent.  I  was  then  fully  aware  that  by  accepting 
the  Egyptian  service  I  might  in  a  few  years  have  realized  as  con- 
siderable a  fortune  as  other  physicians  have  done.*  But,  far  from 
being  influenced  by  this  consideration,  I  no  sooner  reached  Modon 
than  I  wrote  (12th  and  igth  of  June,  1825)  to  a  friend  at  Cepha- 
lonia,  requesting  him  to  apply  to  the  British  authorities  for  a  pass- 
port, without  which  no  vessel  would  receive  me,  it  being  my 
intention  to  embark  secretly.  On  the  8th  of  September  following 
Lord  Howard  de  Walden  wrote  to  my  friends  as  follows :  "  Mr. 
Canning  directs  me  to  acquaint  you  that  the  fact  (admitted  in  Dr. 
Millingen's  letters)  of  his  having  been  found  in  the  service  of  the 
Greeks,  must  preclude  Mr.  Canning  from  recommending  his  case  to 
His  Majesty's  Embassy  at  the  Porte  for  interference,  as  the  protec- 
tion of  government  cannot  be  extended  to  British  subjects  engaging 
in  foreign  service  against  an  act  of  Parliament."     It  was  not  before 

*Sir  Henry  Holland,  the  son-in-law  of  Sydney  Smith,  had  been  phj'sician  to  AH  Pasha. 


136  TURKISH    CUSTOMS 

November,  1826,  that  I  was  allowed  to  go  to  Smyrna,  and  not  till 
fourteen  years  after  that  the  reigning  Sultan  appointed  me  one  of  his 
court  physicians. 

The  feast  of  Bairam,  in  course  of  which  Dr.  Earle  made  his 
visit  both  to  Smyrna  and  Constantinople,  continues  thirty  days, 
and  corresponds  roughly  to  our  Christmas  holidays.  As  ob- 
served by  him,  the  details  are  curious  :  — 

The  poor  work  on  these  days  as  usual ;  but  the  rich  close  their 
shops,  though  many  of  them  are  willing  to  do  business.  Only  the 
large-tailed  breed  of  sheep  are  used  in  sacrifices  then,  at  least  in 
Asia  Minor,  where  they  are  bred.  They  are  killed  at  two  or  three 
years  old,  and  cost  about  two  dollars.  Each  good  Mussulman  is  ex- 
pected to  sacrifice  a  sheep  every  year  ;  and  the  superstition  is  that, 
if  he  should  die  before  the  next  feast,  that  sheep  will  carry  him  into 
Paradise.  For  the  three  bridges  over  the  rivers  of  milk,  honey,  and 
butter,  which  encircle  Paradise,  are  so  narrow  that  only  a  sheep  can 
cross  them  ;  and  the  departed,  on  arriving  at  these  streams,  must 
bestride  a  sheep  they  have  sacrificed.  The  rich  often  kill  several 
sheep,  for  precaution,  and  give  the  mutton  to  the  poor.  Flocks  of 
these  sacred  animals  now  and  then  are  seen  at  pasture  near  Smyrna, 
where  the  numerous  Greeks  are  not  allowed  to  own  them,  no  Greek 
being  wanted  in  the  Moslem  heaven. 

Constantinople  is  built  on  an  angular  point  of  land,  something 
like  New  York,  which  it  resembles  in  several  other  ways.  Pera, 
where  the  Franks  live,  is  situated  as  Brooklyn  is  to  New  York, 
though  the  stream  between  is  narrower.  The  streets  are  narrow  and 
filthy,  abounding  in  dogs  and  Hned  with  tall  wooden  houses.  The 
old  Roman  city  was  on  Seraglio  Point  and  the  high  land  behind  it. 
And  here  is  the  mosque  of  St.  Sophia  and  that  of  Suleiman,  near 
which  I  found  the  insane  lodged  in  a  one-story  building,  arranged 
round  a  central  court,  like  the  caravanseries  of  Turkey  and  Asia 
Minor.  A  corridor  runs  on  the  outer  side  of  this  court,  and  gives 
access  to  the  rooms  and  the  wards.  Within  the  court-yard  we  found 
many  persons,  mostly  youths  or  boys,  who  had  come  out  of  curiosity 
or  to  bring  gifts  to  their  insane  friends.  Outside  of  the  few  asylums 
the  insane  are  regarded  by  the  Mahometans  as  sacred  creatures, 
and  their  incoherent  language  as  divinely  given.  Dr.  Millingen  says 
he  has  known  the  wandering  lunatic  to  be  entertained  for  weeks  by 


1838-1839  137 

strangers,  who  treated  him  with  distinguished  consideration.  But 
the  treatment  in  the  Timar-hane  was  far  from  hospitable.  In  the 
first  room  we  saw  an  inmate  fastened  by  the  neck  with  a  chain  six 
feet  long,  itself  made  fast  through  an  unglazed  window  to  the  ex- 
ternal wall.  Two  other  patients  were  in  the  same  room,  chained  in 
the  same  manner.  Indeed,  of  the  forty  or  fifty  patients  found  there, 
but  one  was  unchained.  The  length  of  the  chains  was  so  graduated 
as  just  to  allow  the  inmate  to  lie  down  on  a  rude  bed  of  boards  and 
blankets.*  The  unchained  man  was  secluded  in  a  room,  having  sev- 
eral times  broken  his  chain.  He  had  been  confined  there  fifteen 
years,  and  was  a  chronic  maniac,  raving  and  noisy,  but  not  probably 
homicidal  (though  he  threatens  to  kill  those  who  gaze  at  him),  were  he 
properly  treated,  as  Pinel  treated  the  maniacs  at  the  Bicetre  in  1793. 
Yet  the  patients  appeared  in  good  health,  are  frequently  seen  by  a 
physician,  and  were  talking  with  their  visitors  while  we  were  present, 
who  gave  them  tobacco,  lighted  their  pipes  for  them,  and  supplied 
them  with  food  of  various  kinds,  and  even  money. 

Dr.  Earle  was  impressed,  as  all  travellers  are,  with  the  Turk- 
ish cemeteries,  especially  that  at  Scutari,  on  the  Asiatic  side  of 
the  Bosphorus.     He  says  :  — 

The  almost  boundless  cemeteries  of  Constantinople  and  Scutari 
have  long  been  objects  of  admiration.  The  noble  cypresses  consti- 
tute their  chief  beauty,  apart  from  their  situation  on  the  picturesque 
shores  of  the  Bosphorus.  In  many  of  them  the  grounds  are  not  en- 
closed, the  graves  are  neglected,  and  the  turban-crowned  headstones 
are  either  falUng  or  actually  lying  on  the  ground.  The  passing 
breeze  —  and  in  that  region  the  breeze  is  almost  always  passing, 
so  steadily  does  it  blow  down  the  Bosphorus  —  makes  a  low  and 
plaintive  murmur  in  the  evergreen  branchlets  of  the  cypress,  and 
reaches  the  heart  with  an  eloquence  unknown  to  lecture  or  to 
homily. 

*  At  that  early  date  chaining  the  maniacal  or  wandering  insane  was  customary  all  over  the  world , 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  communities,  where  the  teachings  of  Pinel,  Tuke,  Horace  Mann,  and 
others,  had  shown  the  needless  barbarity  of  it.  But  it  has  not  yet  entirely  been  "  dismissed  to  the 
moon,"  as  Emerson  said  of  some  similar  absurdity.  In  visiting  the  new  county  almshouse  of  Hills- 
borough at  Grasmere,  a  few  miles  from  Manchester,  N.H.,in  November,  1S96,  I  found  three  patients 
wearing  chains,  and  those  women.  I  was  obliged  to  tell  the  keeper,  who  seemed  to  see  no  impropriety 
in  it,  that  it  was  twenty-five  years  since  I  had  seen  an  insane  man  wearing  a  chain,  although  I  must 
have  visited  fifty  thousand  lunatics,  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  in  that  inten'al  of  time.  A  little  more 
than  twenty  years  before  I  had  caused  the  release  from  seclusion  of  a  woman  at  the  Tewksbury  Alms- 
house of  Massachusetts,  whose  condition,  except  the  chain,  was  much  like  that  of  the  Turkish  men 
seen  by  Dr.  Earle. 


138  MALTA    IX    1839 

Leaving  these  scenes,  the  young  voyager  returned  by 
Smyrna  and  Athens  to  Malta,  where  he  was  forced  to  a  longer 
stay  than  in  any  of  the  more  famous  places  of  his  tour.  He 
took  advantage  of  this  to  give  his  friends  fuller  details  of 
his  life  there  than  at  either  Athens  or  Constantinople. 

I  had  pleasant  companions  from  Smyrna  (one  of  them  the  Jewish 
transmuter  of  metals),  but  the  sea  was  tremendously  rough  after  the 
calm  evening  between  Scio  and  Syra.  We  were  six  days  from  that 
island  to  ]\Ialta.  S)Tra  is  one  of  the  Cyclades;  and,  though  we 
left  it  and  the  other  "  sick  ladies  "  behind,  we  had  sick  gentlemen 
enough  before  we  arrived  here,  on  the  7th  of  January,  1839.  We 
were  making  the  same  voyage  (in  rather  shorter  time)  that  Saint 
Paul  made  when  they  beat  up  and  down  so  many  days  ;  and  I  have 
since  seen  the  spot  where  he  landed,  and  where  "  there  came  a  viper 
out  of  the  heat  and  fastened  upon  his  hand."  You  know  that  com- 
mentators and  others  differ  in  regard  to  this  landing,  some  maintain- 
ing that  it  was  upon  Meleda,  in  the  Adriatic,  and  not  this  Melita, 
that  the  shipwrecked  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  found  refuge.  This 
sea  is  not  commonly  called  "  Adria,"  nor  are  there  venomous 
serpents  here  now ;  nor  were  the  residents  in  Paul's  time  strictly 
barbarians,  as  he  calls  them.  But  he  may  have  styled  all  men  "  bar- 
barous "  (jargoning)  who  did  not  speak  Greek,  like  himself ;  and  the 
poisonous  vipers  may  all  have  been  killed  in  eighteen  hundred  years. 
At  any  rate,  the  weight  of  argument  is  in  favor  of  Malta.  So  I  went 
to  see  the  pretty,  rocky  little  gulf  called  St.  Paul's  Bay.  It  is  on  the 
northern  coast,  six  or  seven  miles  from  the  capital,  Valetta,  the  whole 
island  being  but  twenty  miles  long,  twelve  wide,  and  sixty  in  circuit, 
A  tower  and  several  small  houses  are  at  the  head  of  the  bay,  and  a 
small  stone  church  stands  where  the  fire  and  the  viper  are  said  to 
have  been.  Its  interior  is  but  ordinary.  A  large  but  inferior  paint- 
ing of  the  shipwreck  hangs  behind  the  altar,  and  two  others  on  the 
same  subject  on  the  side  walls.  A  small  image  of  Christ,  crowned 
with  thorns,  stood  on  one  side,  in  a  glazed  case,  before  which  a 
taper  was  burning ;  and  engravings  of  events  in  his  life  hung  here 
and  there  in  the  church. 

The  needful  miracle  ascribed  to  saintly  presence  is  shown  at 
another  church  of  Saint  Paul,  in  Citth  Notabile,  where  the  sacristan 
lighted  torches  and  led  the  way,  downstairs  and  through  a  dark  alley, 


1838-1839  139 

into  the  Grotto  of  Saint  Paul,  a  circular  cave  hewn  in  the  island 
rock,  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  and,  in  the  centre,  eight 
feet  high.  A  marble  statue  of  Paul  stands  there  ;  and  tradition  says 
that  he  and  Saint  Luke,  with  Trophimius,  lived  here  for  three 
months.  Consequently,  the  sacristan  told  us,  though  whole  ship- 
loads of  the  rock  have  been  carried  away  from  this  cave,  its  dimen- 
sions remain  unchanged,  the  rock  supplying  by  growth  the  loss  of  its 
surface.  He  then  beat  off  a  few  pieces  with  his  pickaxe,  and  gave 
them  to  us,  saying  that  they  would  cure  the  bite  of  a  viper  or  other 
venomous  thing,  if  rubbed  on  the  bite  at  once,  "  provided  you  only 
have  sufficient  faith."  Another  grotto  where  miracles  of  an  earlier 
faith  were  wrought  is  that  of  Calypso,  at  the  foot  of  a  hill  in  v>hich 
are  many  other  small  grots,  mostly  now  used  as  houses  or  store- 
houses by  peasants.  I  visited  it,  and  found  a  spring  of  clear  water 
running  through  this  cave  of  Calypso  (Homer  speaks  of  four  foun- 
tains) and  thence  into  a  large  basin,  from  which  it  is  drawn  out  to 
fertilize  a  beautiful  garden  below.  Yet  some  say  Gozo,  a  few  miles 
away  from  Malta,  was  really  Calypso's  island ;  and  her  grotto  is  also 
shown  there,  which  I  did  not  see.  But  a  recent  tourist  says  it  is  in  a 
rock  overhanging  the  Bay  of  Ramla,  with  a  very  narrow  entrance, 
quite  too  small  for  a  goddess,  and,  in  his  opinion,  "  a  very  safe 
retreat  for  a  company  of  foxes."  I  must  therefore  believe  that  the 
Maltese  cavern  was  that  which  the  old  Greek  fox,  Ulysses,  inhabited 
for  a  time.  Byron  thought  so,  too,  and  places  here  the  scene  of  that 
leap  which  Telemachus  took,  at  the  suggestion  of  Mentor  and  Fene- 
lon  ;  but  he  lets  us  choose  either  island  :  — 

But  not  in  silence  pass  Calypso's  isles, 

The  sister  tenants  of  the  middle  deep  : 
There  for  the  weary  still  a  haven  smiles, 

Though  the  fair  goddess  long  hath  ceased  to  weep, 

And  o'er  her  cliffs  a  fruitless  watch  to  keep 
For  him  who  dared  prefer  a  mortal  bride. 

Here,  too,  his  boy  essayed  the  dreadful  leap 
Stern  Mentor  urged  from  high  to  yonder  tide, — 
While,  thus  of  both  bereft,  the  nymph-queen  doubly  sighed.* 

It  is  supposed  that  Malta  furnishes  700  species  of  indigenous 
plants.      Dr.    Zerafa    in    his    botanical    treatise  names    644.     Were 

*Childe  Harold,  Canto  II.  xxix.  In  the  verse  following  this  B5rron  bestotv'S  the  name  of  Calypso 
on  Lady  Spencer,  under  the  designation  of  "  Fair  Florence"  ;  and  this  episode  in  his  voyage  up  the 
Mediterranean  was  perhaps  his  only  reason  for  placing  Calypso  in  Malta.  Homer's  geography,  as  we 
all  know,  was  strictly  poetical  and  ideal ;  but  a  recent  wTiter  (S.  Butler)  puts  Calj^pso  west  of  Sicily. 


140  QUARANTINE    AT    MALTA 

it  not  that  the  earth  produces  two  or  three  crops  in  a  year, 
so  large  a  population  as  120,000  could  not  be  supported  here. 
Frost  is  never  seen,  and,  though  there  are  hail-storms,  snow 
never  falls.  In  summer  it  rarely  rains.  The  sirocco,  which  blows 
most  in  early  autumn,  is  oppressive  to  foreigners,  especially  the  con- 
sumptive, who  often  come  here  from  England.  John  Hookham 
Frere,  the  poet  and  translator,  has  lived  here  for  his  health  since 
18 16.  The  language  of  the  Maltese  is,  like  the  Albanian,  unwritten. 
Some  Greek  asked  an  Albanian  the  history  of  his  alphabet.  "  It 
was  written  on  a  cabbage-leaf,"  was  the  answer;  "  and  an  ass  came 
by,  and  ate  it  up."  Italian  is  used  in  the  courts  ;  and  English,  which 
was  introduced  in  1800,  when  the  island  was  captured  from  the 
French,  is  in  the  schools,  and  becoming  more  and  more  universal. 
The  costumes  are  peculiar ;  and  the  top-hat  is  in  disfavor,  as 
generally  in  the  Orient.  When  the  English  hat  first  went  to 
Damascus,  the  people  disliked  it  so  much  that  they  have  since 
spoken  of  an  Englishman  as  "  Aboo-tanjara,"  "the  father  of  a  pot." 
The  poorer  peasants  seldom  wear  shoes :  if  they  have  a  pair,  they 
keep  them  for  great  occasions.  A  woman  was  overheard  the  other 
day  to  ask  her  companion  how  long  she  had  owned  her  shoes. 
"  Since  the  year  of  the  plague,"  was  the  answer ;  that  is,  1813  ! 

There  are  more  than  one  thousand  ordained  priests  and  friars  in 
Malta,  and  nearly  three  thousand  abbati  are  preparing  for  ordina- 
tion. When  we  visited  Citta  Vecchia  (the  same  as  Notabile),  it  is 
no  exaggeration  to  say  that  a  majority  of  those  we  met  in  the  streets 
were  either  priests  or  beggars.  Several  monasteries  are  here,  the 
most  remarkable  being  that  of  the  Capuchins,  in  which,  when  a 
monk  dies,  he  is  dried,  dressed  up  in  his  robes,  and  set  in  a  niche 
until  his  bones  fall  apart,  the  skulls  being  afterwards  ranged  in  rows 
along  the  ceiling  of  the  Carneria,  or  charnel-house. 

At  our  lazzaretto  the  three  weeks  of  quarantine  *  passed  off  rapidly. 
We  had  accommodations  in  a  splendid  fortress.  My  room-mate  was  a 
Swiss  merchant,  several  years  resident  in  Naples, —  a  man  of  thirt)'- 

•  It  is  to  be  remarked  tliat  the  rules  of  quarantine  liad  long  been  observed  at  Malta  ;  for,  when 
George  Sandys,  traveller  and  poet,  was  there  in  1610,  he  came  near  encountering  the  same  seclusion 
which  Dr.  Earle  underwent  in  1839.  It  was  in  June  that  this  early  voyager  put  into  the  harbor  of 
Valetta,  and,  not  being  allowed  to  land  in  the  city,  for  fear  of  infection,  liad  this  adventure :  "  I  was 
left  alone  on  a  naked  promontory,  right  against  the  city,  remote  from  the  concourse  of  people, 
without  provision,  and  not  knowing  how  to  dispose  of  myself.  At  length  a  little  boat  made  towards 
me,  rowed  by  an  officer  appointed  to  attend  on  strangers  that  had  no  fratiqite,  lest  others  should 
receive  infection,  who  carried  me  into  the  liollow  lianging  of  a  rock,  where  I  was  for  the  night  to 
take  up  my  lodging,  and  the  day  following  to  be  conveyed  by  him  into  the  Lazzaretto,  there  to  remain 


183S-1839  141 

five,  and  a  pleasant  companion.  We  talked  and  read  and  wrote,  and 
walked  and  laughed  and  smoked  a  la  Ttirque,  and  told  stories  and 
conundrums  and  enigmas  and  anagrams,  and  picked  flowers  and 
collected  shells,  and  ate  oranges  at  four  cents  a  dozen,  and  glorious 
musk-melons,  as  cheap  as  need  be ;  and  thus  the  time  slipped  by 
swiftly  and  pleasantly.  Nor  did  we  play  it  all  away,  as  you  might 
infer  from  the  above.  For,  aside  from  some  reading,  my  comrade 
wrote  letters  in  such  abundance  that  I  find  paper  is  more  than  twice 
as  dear  here  as  in  Paris,  and  made  figures  without  number ;  while 
I,  besides  a  medical  essay  for  Dr.  Roeser  to  present  in  my  name  to 
the  Medical  Society  of  Athens,  translated  and  wrote  out  the  transla- 
tion of  two  hundred  and  eighty  pages  of  a  medical  work,  which  I  in- 
tend to  have  published,  if  some  one  does  not  get  the  start  of  me. 
There  are  more  than  nine  hundred  pages  in  all,  and  I  mean  to 
finish  it  before  reaching  America. 

Nor  were  we  two  alone  in  our  prison  enjoyments.  (I  say  prison 
because  we  were  limited  to  a  part  of  the  space  enclosed  by  the 
fortress  walls,  about  an  acre  of  ground ;  and  yet  on  that  acre  I 
found  no  less  than  sixteen  species  of  wild  flowers  in  blossom  in  this 
month  of  January.)  Among  our  companions  were  a  Greek  merchant 
and  his  wife,  on  their  way  to  the  island  of  Gerby  on  the  coast  of 
Biledulgerid,  where  he  has  a  sponge-fishery,  with  forty  divers  engaged 
in  plunging  after  sponges,  as  they  do  at  Kalymnos  near  Syria.  The 
best  sponge-fishers  can  stay  three  minutes  under  water.  Then  we 
had  a  young  Greek,  going  to  Toulon  by  order  of  King  Otho,  to  learn 
in  the  navy-yard  there  what  Peter  the  Great  did  at  Saardam.  The 
five  persons  named,  including  me,  clubbed  together,  hired  a  man- 
servant, cooking  utensils,  etc.,  and  lived  chez  nous  as  snugly  as  need 
be.  At  any  early  hour  in  the  morning  the  servant  brought  us,  each 
one  in  his  chamber,  a  cup  of  black  coffee, —  a  luxury  which  the 
Americans   have   yet  to    learn  to   appreciate.      At  ten  a.m.  we   all 

thirty  or  forty  days,  before  I  could  be  admitted  into  the  city.  But  the  Great  IMaster  the  next  morning, 
as  he  sate  in  council,  granted  me  pratique.  So  I  came  into  the  city,  and  was  kindly  entertained  for 
three  weeks'  space,  where  with  much  contentment  I  remained." 

What  Sandys  saw  of  the  inhabitants  and  their  then  rulers,  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  may  be  quoted 
in  contrast  with  Dr.  Earle's  observations.  He  found  but  some  twenty  thousand  people  on  the  island, 
and  says:  "  The  Malteses  are  little  less  tawny  than  the  Moors,  especially  those  of  the  country,  who  go 
half-clad,  and  are  indeed  a  miserable  people ;  but  the  citizens  are  altogether  Frenchified,  the  Great 
Master  and  major  part  of  the  knights  being  Frenchmen.  Their  markets  they  keep  on  Sundays. 
They  stir  early  and  late,  in  regard  of  the  immoderate  heat,  and  sleep  at  noonday.  Their  country  is  no 
other  than  a  rock  covered  over  with  earth,  but  two  feet  deep  where  deepest.  The  soil  produceth 
no  grain  but  barley.  Bread  made  of  it,  with  olives,  is  the  villagers'  ordinary  diet.  The  inhabitants 
die  more  with  age  than  diseases." 


142  LIFE    IN    MALTA 

assembled  in  the  apartment  of  the  Greek,  and  breakfasted  on  bread 
and  butter  and  cafe  au  lait.  (This,  by  the  way,  our  countrymen 
never  will  make  good  until  they  brow7i  the  coffee  instead  of  burning 
it,  boil  the  milk,  and  sweeten  with  loaf-sugar.)  I  took  tea  with  our 
former  consul  in  Malta  yesterday.  They  had  brown  sugar  on  the 
table,  the  first  time  I  have  seen  any  since  I  left  New  York. 

At  four  P.M.  we  dined  in  quarantine,  always  having  four  changes,— 
(i)  soup,  (2  and  3)  two  different  kinds  of  meat,  and  (4)  dessert, 
consisting  of  cheese,  oranges,  raisins,  melons,  almonds,  etc.  Poor 
Life  Harrud  [Eliphalet  Harwood,  of  Leicester],  when  he  said,  "  I  hain't 
come  to  broth  yit,"  had  yet  to  learn  that  soup  is  as  needful  at  the 
dinner  of  a  European  as  potatoes  to  an  Irishman,  I  might  say  to 
an  American.  After  finishing  our  meal,  we  went  upstairs,  and  ended 
by  smoking  a  pipe,  drinking  a  cup  of  Turkish  coffee,  etc.  I  will 
give  you  a  recipe  for  making  coffee  a  la  Turqiie.  Take  your  own 
coffee-pot  when  you  have  done  breakfast,  and  nothing  will  run  from 
the  spout  but  grounds  mixed  with  a  little  liquid.  Then  seek  the 
smallest  earthen  salt-cellar  you  can  find  or,  what  is  nearer  the  thing, 
a  cup  in  an  infant's  set  of  miniature  dishes.  Pour  the  cup  or  salt- 
cellar two-thirds  full  of  said  liquid,  and  it  is  ready  for  use.  Only  be 
very  careful  not  to  put  in  any  sugar.* 

We  came  out  of  quarantine  January  27,  five  days  ago  ;  and  I  have 
been  working  a  great  part  of  the  time  since, —  writing,  reading, 
translating,  and  packing  shells.  Mr.  Eynard,  our  former  consul 
here,  with  whom  I  took  tea,  lives  in  a  house  where  there  is  as  much 
space,  I  think,  as  in  our  whole  Leicester  house  in  a  single  room. 
It  is  certainly  as  high, —  an  old  palace,  built  by  a  member  of  the  cele- 
brated order  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  who  were  ex- 
pelled from  Malta  by  Napoleon  in  1798.  Mr.  Eynard  has  introduced 
me  at  an  extensive  library  and  reading-room  of  the  English,  where  I 
have  brought  myself  up  even  with  the  times,  having  fallen  a  month 
or  two  behind  in  crossing  the  line  between  Western  and  Eastern 
Europe.  A  vessel  arrived  January  31  from  Boston  in  thirty-six  days, 
having  left  that  city  the  day  I  left  Constantinople  (December  26). 
It  brought  files  of  several   Boston  papers  to  our  present  consul,  a 

•  This  is  scarcely  just  to  the  present  mode  of  makinR  that  favorite  beverage  of  the  Greeks  and 
Armenians  as  well  as  the  Turks.  Indeed,  Turkish  coffee  is  now  served  at  the  best  hotels  in  South- 
eastern Europe,  and  is  sipped  by  the  tourists  of  all  nations  with  gusto,  except,  possibly,  by  the 
French.  The  young  physician  had  lived  so  long  in  Paris,  to  which  he  was  now  returning  for  a  month, 
that  he  was  impatient  of  any  but  the  French  cookery.  Much  sugar  is  now  served  with  these  tiny 
cups  of  Turkish  coffee,  and  the  making  of  it  is  a  part  of  the  economy  of  the  humblest  Greek  cabin. 


1838-1839  143 

Mr.  Andrews  ;  and  I  have  been  looking  them  over  to-day.  It  is  quite 
reviving  to  get  news  so  fresh  from  a  place  so  near  home.  I  send 
you  from  here  a  half-barrel  filled  with  straw  and  other  natural  curi- 
osities. All  the  shells  not  marked  are  from  Smyrna.  You  will  per- 
ceive there  are  some  from  Marathon,  the  Acropolis,  etc.,  valuable, 
from  their  locality,  as  mementos. 

Dr.  Earle's  tour  in  the  Levant  ended  at  Malta.  It  had  occu- 
pied less  than  four  months,  and  w^as  never  repeated.  Yet  no 
portion  of  his  extensive  travels  seems  to  have  given  him  greater 
pleasure.  It  was  one  of  the  dreams  of  his  later  life  to  go 
round  the  world  from  California,  and  approach  Egypt,  Syria, 
and  Greece  from  the  Orient;  but  this  plan  was  given  up  in 
consequence  of  the  death  of  his  proposed  companion. 


The  Insane  in  Malta. 


After  visiting  asylums  for  the  insane  in  Milan,  Venice,  and  Con- 
stantinople, Dr.  Earle  gave  some  attention  to  the  insane  in  Malta, 
where  in  1839  ^^  reported  130  lunatics  in  a  population  of  120,000. 
"  The  asylum  for  their  reception  and  treatment,"  he  says,  "  is  at 
Floriana,  in  the  suburbs  of  Valetta.  The  building  is  old  and  very 
incommodious.  Baths  have  recently  been  constructed.  In  18 12 
the  use  of  chains  —  those  implements  of  confinement  and  torture,  fit 
only  for  wild  beasts  —  was  entirely  abolished.  The  patients  have 
ever  been,  and  still  are,  mingled  together,  irrespective  of  stage  or 
intensity  of  disease.  A  division  of  the  incurable  from  the  curable 
is  about  to  be  made.  Most  of  the  patients  are  remarkably  quiet. 
Many  died  of  Asiatic  cholera  in  the  summer  of  1837.  The  superin- 
tendent could  not  tell  me  the  precise  proportion  of  cures  effected 
here,  but  thinks  it  exceeds  50  per  cent.  The  number  seen  was  90, 
—  40  men  and  50  women, —  the  proportion  of  women  to  men  insane 
in  Malta  being  usually  as  3  to  2.  A  very  large  proportion  perform 
manual  labor.  The  principal  employments  are  gardening,  sewing, 
knitting,  spinning,  and  domestic  affairs.  Of  three  yards  adjacent  to 
the  building,  one  is  planted  with  orange-trees,  another  is  a  kitchen 
garden  cultivated  by  the  patients."  It  is  doubtful  if  any  other 
American  physician  ever  inspected  the  Valetta  Asylum  in  the  sixty 
years  since  elapsed. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BEGINNING    PROFESSIONAL    LIFE. 

Dr.  Earle  had  now  completed  his  medical  studies  begun 
at  Providence  six  years  earlier,  and  finished  by  a  few  weeks  at 
Paris  after  his  return  from  Malta  and  Italy  in  the  spring  of 
1839.  H^  '^^^  ^^  ^^s  thirtieth  year,  had  made  the  grand  tour 
in  a  fashion  of  his  own,  and  had  begun  those  special  studies 
concerning  insanity  which  were  to  occupy  the  next  half-century 
of  his  professional  life.  With  these  qualifications  and  experi- 
ences, he  returned  from  Europe  ;  and,  after  a  visit  to  his  mother, 
sisters,  and  brothers  at  Leicester  and  Worcester,  he  estab- 
Hshed  himself  as  a  physician  in  Philadelphia,  where  his  brother 
Thomas  had  long  been  in  practice  as  a  lawyer.  From  an 
essay  published  some  years  later,  we  may  learn  something  of 
the  general  average  of  medical  knowledge  and  practice  where 
Dr.  Earle  began  his  professional  career,  and  in  the  years  from 
1837  to   1844. 

My  medical  education  was  received  at  the  school  in  which  Dr. 
Benjamin  Rush  had  been  a  professor ;  and,  along  with  respect, 
esteem,  and  affection  for  the  professors  at  whose  feet  I  sat,  I  im- 
bibed reverence  for  Dr.  Rush.  But  his  theories  of  the  pathology 
and  his  principles  of  the  therapeutics  of  insanity,  and  the  incon- 
sistencies into  which  these  led  him,  did  not  die  with  their  originator. 
His  "  Medical  Enquiries  and  Observations "  has  had  a  circulation 
among  American  physicians  more  extensive  than  that  of  the  works 
of  all  other  authors  upon  mental  disorders.  These  theories  and 
principles,  and  the  method  of  treatment  recommended  by  him  (fre- 
quent and  copious  bleeding),  are  still  to  a  very  considerable  extent  in 
vogue  over  a  vast  extent  of  inland  territory  in  America ;  and  the 
professor  of  the  practice  of  medicine  in  our  largest  medical  school 
inculcates  that  method  of  treatment  and  its  supporting  theories.  It 
is  not  a  fact,  therefore,  that  in  America  Dr.  Rush  is  "  almost  without 


1839-1845  145 

a  follower,"  nor  that  his  arguments  have  lost  their  force  and  author- 
it)^  When  physicians  having  the  care  of  the  insane  began  to  de- 
nounce venesection,  they  were  confronted  by  what  was  considered 
the  paramount  authority  of  Dr.  Rush.  They  were  told,  "  You  crazy 
doctors  ride  hobbies,"  as  if  Dr.  Rush  were  not  as  liable  to  hobby- 
riding  as  Dr.  Ray  or  Dr.  Bell.  No  individual  authority  could  over- 
come the  far-prevailing  (but,  happily,  not,  as  formerly,  the  all-per- 
vading) influence  of  Rush  in  the  United  States.  Even  in  England 
his  theories  still  live,  according  to  Dr.  Munro,  who  in  1856  said: 
"The  term  'mania'  has  become  inveterately  associated,  among  prac- 
titioners of  the  old  school  (many  of  whom  still  exist),  with  a  strength 
to  be  pulled  down, —  a  disease  requiring  antiphlogistic  treatment. 
He  bleeds,  he  blisters,  he  purges,  and  finds  the  fury  mitigated  for  a 
time.  Therefore,  this  practitioner  says  again,  '  Mania  must  result 
from  excess  of  power.'  "  I  believe  that  Dr.  Rush's  theories  are  an- 
nually consigning  hundreds  prematurely  to  the  grave,  and  hundreds 
more  to  premature  insanity ;  while  the  book  which  inculcates  them  is 
not  only  extant,  but  probably  to  be  found  in  more  libraries  than  all 
other  books  on  the  same  subject." 

Although  these  remarks,  made  in  1857,  relate  to  one  special 
form  of  disease  v^^ith  which  Dr.  Earle  had  then  become  very 
familiar  by  long  observation,  it  is  almost  equally  true  that 
"  heroic "  treatment  was  the  rule  in  ordinary  practice.  We 
have  seen  with  what  surprise  Dr.  Earle  noted  the  small  amount 
of  drugs  given  in  doses  by  the  French  hospital  physicians. 
This  was  because  medical  science  —  never  very  complete — ■ 
was  exceedingly  imperfect  sixty  years  ago  in  America  as  com- 
pared with  its  present  state.  In  1839,  when  he  opened  a  gen- 
eral office  in  Philadelphia,  a  considerable  revolt  had  broken  out 
in  New  England  and  other  parts  of  the  country  against  the 
extreme  use  of  mercury,  then  very  common ;  and  the  homoe- 
opathists,  of  whom  Dr.  Earle  heard  for  the  first  time  in  a  prac- 
tical way  at  Paris,  soon  made  their  crusade  throughout  the 
Northern  States  against  the  use  of  large  doses  in  general.  Dr. 
Earle  was  never  the  first  to  innovate  on  the  professional  prac- 
tice of  his  day ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  firm  and  con- 
scientious in  the  support  of  what  he  believed  to  be  for  the  good 


146  MEDICAL    SCIENCE    IN    1840 

of  patients.  And  it  is  probable  that  he  was  drawn  from  general 
practice  into  the  specialty  in  which  he  became  so  distinguished 
by  his  perception  of  the  good  field  it  offered  for  improving  the 
traditional  usages,  without  shocking  too  much  the  professional 
body  of  which  he  was  a  young  and  unknown  member.  At  any 
rate,  he  had  not  long  been  at  work  in  Philadelphia  before  he 
was  asked  to  take  a  place  as  physician  in  the  small  hospital  for 
the  insane  maintained  by  the  Quakers  of  that  vicinity,  and 
known  as  "  The  Friends'  Retreat,"  at  Frankford,  now  a  part  of 
the  great  city  of  Penn  and  Franklin.  He  began  his  service 
there  in  the  summer  of  1840  ;  and  one  of  his  first  experiences 
led  him  to  a  cardinal  principle  in  the  care  of  the  insane, —  not 
to  deceive  them  nor  allow  others  to  do  so.  Writing  to  his 
Leicester  family  (Sept.  30,  1840),  he  says:  — 

We  have  a  C.  E.  here  from  Maryland,  who,  in  homely  phrase,  is 
"  crazy  as  a  loon,"  but  improving  rapidly.  When  she  arrived,  her 
husband,  a  brother,  and  two  sisters  came  with  her.  After  a  while 
we  walked  out  into  the  garden,  C.  walking  with  me.  While  I  amused 
her,  these  relatives  slipped  away,  and  were  off  before  she  was  aware 
of  it.  For  a  month  afterwards  she  believed  that  I  had  ordered  her 
friends  to  be  murdered,  and,  having  assumed  the  name  of  her  hus- 
band, was  making  pretensions  to  her  hand.  Finally,  this  delusion 
was  removed  by  the  receipt  of  letters  (written  at  my  request)  from 
all  those  who  came  with  her.  Never  again  shall  I  insist  on  detaining 
a  patient  by  deception  or  stratagem.  It  shall  be  straightforward 
work. 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  young  alienist  that  he  could  begin 
his  real  life-work  in  a  small  asylum  like  that  of  his  own  relig- 
ious society  and  among  persons  naturally  inclined  to  favor  his 
efforts.  Frankford  was  thus  to  him  a  preparatory  school,  in 
which  he  learned,  without  too  much  controversy  or  publicity, 
what  to  do  and  what  to  avoid.  Nor  was  his  time  too  fully 
occupied  to  forbid  his  lecturing  on  scientific,  literary,  and 
general  topics.  This  he  did  often  and  to  general  acceptance. 
He  won  some  local  applause  also  as  a  poet  and  a  contributor  to 
the  magazines  of   that  early  day,  the   Knickerbocker  of   New 


1839-1845  147 

York,  and  the  venture  which  that  brilliant,  erratic  genius, 
Edgar  Poe,  was  then  first  making  in  Philadelphia.     Oct.  15, 

1 840,  Dr.  Earle  says  :  — 

I  have  written  several  pieces  this  summer,  which  I  would  send  to 
thee  [his  sister  Eliza]  if  I  had  time  to  copy  them  in  an  easy  position. 
[He  was  ill  from  blood-poisoning  in  consequence  of  an  autopsy  at 
the  Retreat.]  I  will  copy  one,  which  I  think  a  little  posterior  to  the 
others,  the  "  Sohloquy  of  an  Octogenarian."*  .  .  . 

'Tis  nearly  past,  this  fitful  dream 
Whose  phantoms  gladden  to  deceive,  etc. 

Edgar  A.  Poe,  formerly  editor  of  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger, 
is  about  to  commence  a  journal  similar  to  the  Knickerbocker  in 
Philadelphia.  I  have  sent  this  piece  to  him,  and  have  received  an 
answer,  in  which  he  says  the  lines  are  "  beautiful,"  and  "  shall 
certainly  appear  in  the  first  number."  Another  of  the  cast-off  scoriae 
of  my  brain  is  an  "  Address  to  a  Flower,"  brought  from  Mars'  Hill, 
in  this  measure :  — 

Bright  flower  of  the  Orient,  bathed  in  the  dyes 
That  crimson  the  vault  of  Hellenean  skies, 
Fanned  by  zephyrs  which  over  Pentelicus  blew, 
And  nurtured  by  drops  of  Hymettean  dew, 
Or  by  vapors,  perchance,  on  the  breeze  wafted  o'er 
From  the  Hieron  Helian  of  old  Epidaure.f 

I  have  forwarded  it  to  the  Knickerbocker. 

This  poem  came  out  in  the  volume  printed  by  Dr.  Earle  in 

1841,  entitled  "Marathon,  and  Other  Poems,"  where  it  begins 
page  104.  The  verses  "  To  my  Mother,"  at  page  S6  of  the 
same  volume,  were  those  which  appeared  in  the  Knickerbocker 
of  July,  1840,  and  were  written  at  Passignano  in  Italy,  in  1839. 
Poe  wrote  to  Dr.  Earle,  Oct.  10,  1840,  from  Philadelphia,  in  a 
beautiful  hand,  thus  :  — 

Dear  Sir, —  Your  kind  letter  dated  the  2d  inst.  was  postmarked 
the  8th,  and  I  have  only  this  morning  received  it.     I  hasten  to  thank 

*  Published  in  "Marathon,  and  Other  Poems,"  Philadelphia,  1S41. 

t  These  Grecian  place-names  are  brought  in  to  give  the  right  Attic  flavor  to  the  lines ;  and  the  fact 
that  Pentelicus  is  east-north-east  from  the  Areopagus  would  not  hinder  the  south-west  wind  (zephyr) 


140  LITERARY    LABORS 

you  for  the  interest  you  have  taken  in  my  contemplated  magazine, 
and  for  the  beautiful  lines  "  By  an  Octogenarian,"  They  shall 
certainly  appear  in  the  first  number.  You  must  allow  me  to  consider 
such  offerings,  however,  as  anything  but  "  unsubstantial  encourage- 
ment." Believe  me  that  good  poetry  is  far  rarer,  and  therefore  far 
more  acceptable  to  the  publisher  of  a  journal,  than  even  that  rara 
avis,  money  itself. 

Should  you  be  able  to  aid  my  cause  in  Frankford  by  a  good  word 
with  your  neighbors,  I  hope  that  you  will  be  inclined  to  do  so.  Much 
depends  upon  the  list  I  may  have  before  the  first  of  December.  I 
send  you  a  prospectus,  believing  that  the  objects  set  forth  in  it  are, 
upon  the  whole,  such  as  your  candor  will  approve. 

Very  truly  and  respectfully, 
Yr.  ob.  St., 
Dr.  Pliny  Earle.  Edgar  A.   Poe. 

The  name  of  this  long-expected  journal,  whose  first  number 
never  appeared,  was  to  be  The  Penn  Magazine.  It  was  first 
announced  June  13,  1840,  as  to  come  out  the  next  January, 
then  deferred  to  March  i,  1841,  and  then  given  up  entirely, 
Poe  taking  charge  of  Grahavis  Magazine  instead.  The  Penn 
was  to  be  monthly,  to  publish  a  thousand  pages  a  year,  in 
two  volumes ;  and  its  price  was  five  dollars  a  year.  Its  chief 
object  was  given  as  "an  absolutely  independent  criticism,"  and 
this  was  to  be  something  unique  and  not  yet  seen, — 

Yielding  no  point  either  to  the  vanity  of  the  author,  or  to  the 
assumptions  of  antique  prejudice,  or  to  the  involute  and  anonymous 
cant  of  the  quarterlies,  or  to  the  arrogance  of  those  organized  cliques, 
which,  hanging  on  like  nightmares  upon  American  literature,  manu- 
facture, at  the  nod  of  our  principal  booksellers,  a  pseudo-public 
opinion  by  wholesale. 

These  were  brave  words,  and  Dr.  PLarle  waited  for  six 
months  to  see  them  fulfilled.  Then  he  gathered  up  his  early 
and  later  verses  into  a  volume,   as  mentioned,  and  dealt  no 

from  blowing  "over  Pentelicus"  after  fanning  the  poet's  flower,  which  was  a  scarlet  anemone. 
"  Epidaure"  is  the  French  version  of  that  Hieron  of  yEsculapius  near  the  old  town  of  Epidauros  on 
the  coast  of  Argolis,  a  short  sail  from  Athens, —  called  "  Helian,"  I  fancy,  from  the  commingling  of 
Apollo  and  his  mythical  son,  who  was  nursed  by  goats  on  the  mountain  overlooking  the  temple. 


1839-1845  149 

more  with  Mr.  Poe.  His  verses  in  the  July  Knickerbocker 
(then  edited  by  Lewis  Gaylord  Clarke)  had  brought  him  a  new 
acquaintance  at  the  inopportune  time  of  sickness,  which  had 
delayed  the  posting  of  his  "  Soliloquy  "  to  Poe.  He  thus  notes 
the  fact  (Oct.  15,  1840)  :  — 

Yesterday  Thomas  Wright,  a  Hicksite,  formerly  of  New  York 
City,  but  now  of  Hudson,  came  to  see  me  with  a  letter  of  introduction 
from  J.  Turnpenny.  He  found  me  en  deshabille  parfaite,  with  a 
cotton  shirt  on,  the  left  sleeve  and  side  of  which  were  saturated  with 
blood  and  lead-water,  the  bedclothes  in  very  similar  condition  (my 
bed  not  having  been  made,  my  hands  and  face  not  washed,  nor  even 
my  head  combed  for  sixty  hours),  with  two  nurses  working  over  me, 
and  forty  leeches  filling  themselves  at  my  arm.  He  stayed  a  few 
minutes,  talked  a  little,  seemed  as  kind  and  familiar  as  if  we  had 
been  acquainted  forty  years,  and  then  left.  I  wondered  what  the 
man  came  for,  and  to-day  have  had  an  explanation  from  J.  Turn- 
penny, who  heard  of  my  serious  illness  and  called  to  see  me.  Last 
summer  he  was  at  the  house  of  Wright,  in  Hudson,  just  after  the 
Knickerbocker  with  my  verses  came  out.  Wright  was  "  very  much 
taken  "  with  the  stanzas,  and  wondered  who  Pliny  Earle  was. 
Turnpenny  informed  him.  And  now,  being  this  way  on  business,  as 
I  presume,  he  took  the  opportunity  of  seeing  me.  During  our 
interview  he  said  nothing  about  poetry ;  but,  after  going  back  to 
town,  he  told  J.  T.  "  to  thank  Pliny  Earle  for  me  for  writing  that 
piece,  and  say  to  him  that  I  have  taken  one  verse  of  it, 

Thou  whose  locks  are  hoary,  etc., 

to  myself."  I  wish  the  author  were  half  as  good  as  a  perusal  of  that 
piece  would  lead  people  to  suspect. 

This  brief  comment  on  an  incident  so  flattering  to  an  author's 
vanity  illustrates  Dr.  Earle's  view  of  his  literary  work.  He 
desired  it  to  have  an  instructive  and  moral  effect,  or  else  he 
wrote  merely  for  the  entertainment  of  readers  easily  amused. 
His  true  vocation  was  something  different ;  and,  after  a  few 
years,  he  gave  up  literature.  Phrenology  went  the  same  way, 
but  after  a  longer  interval ;  for,  as  already  intimated,  Dr.  Earle 


I^O  PHRENOLOGY   EXExMPLIFIED 

had  taken  much  interest  in  that  queer  half-science,  now  gone 
to  decay.     Early  in  1842  he  wrote  :  — 

The  examination  of  Stephen  Earle's  head  and  of  mine,  by  L.  N.  Fow- 
ler did  more  to  convince  me  of  the  practical  utility  of  phrenology  — 
not  to  say  of  its  truth  as  a  science  —  than  anything  else  that  I  ever 
saw,  read,  or  heard.  Stephen  was  told  what  I  believe  he  might 
have  been  rather  than  what  he  is.  But,  for  myself,  I  doubt  if  any 
of  my  nearest  relatives  or  most  intimate  friends  could  have  given 
a  more  accurate  synopsis  of  my  character.  Dr.  Barber*  could 
titillate  the  ears  of  his  audience,  and  talk  most  eloquently  of  "  the 
sensible  fibres  of  the  corporeal  organization,"  "the  infinitesimal  cor- 
puscles constituting  the  basis  of  the  wonderful  temple  of  the  human 
economy,"  of  the  "  transcendental,  heaven-born,  heaven-bound 
ethereal  essence,  which,  under  the  diverse  modifications  of  the  su- 
perior sentiments,  elevates  man  above  the  brutes  that  perish  "  ;  he 
can  recite 

Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  Ocean, —  roll ! 

and  "  Ha-a-a-ail  ho-o-o-oly  Light!"  but,  as  for  the  power  of  ap- 
preciating character  by  the  craniological  developments,  he  had 
hardly  a  tittle. 

In  describing  one  of  Dr.  Earle's  confused  patients  at  Frank- 
ford,  phrenology  comes  in  :  — 

He  is  unsettled,  restless,  and  constantly  worrying  about  something. 
His  Conscientiousness  thinks  that  the  buttons  of  his  vest,  which  are 
covered  with  plain  black  "  lasting,"  are  too  gay.  His  Reverence  is 
in  an  inexplicable  quandary  in  regard  to  a  copy  of  Scott's  Family 
Bible,  which  it  and  Acquisitiveness  procured.  After  the  purchase, 
Reverence,  reading  the  commentary,  became  dissatisfied,  and  openly 
promulgated  dissatisfaction.  Hereupon  De^tructiveness  advised  to 
burn  the  book,  "  That  would  be  a  wise  expedient  for  the  commen- 
tary," remarked  Reverence ;  "  but  for  the  text  it  would  be  sacri- 
legious, and  to  separate  them  is  impossible."  Benevolence,  hearing 
this  colloquy,  proposed  to  give  the  book  away.     "  And  contaminate 

•  This  was  a  rhetorical  Briton,  who  made  a  figure  in  Boston  and  Cambridge,  for  a  time,  by  his  reci- 
tations, readings,  and,  finally,  by  lecturing  on  phrenology.  The  brothers  Fowler  were  very  different 
persons,— shrewd  and  gifted  in  Hogarth's  art,  "  to  see  the  manners  in  the  face." 


1839-1845  iSi 

somebody  else,  eh  ? "  cried  Reverence,  holding  up  both  hands  in 
astonishment.  At  this  point  Secretiveness  whispered  that,  if  he  had 
the  management,  he  would  box  the  book  up,  and  hide  it  among  the 
lumber  of  the  garret.  "  And  thus  contaminate  posterity,"  exclaimed 
Reverence  and  Philoprogenitiveness,  simultaneously.  Here  the 
consultation  ended,  and  poor  Reverence  can  see  no  way  out  of  the 
dilemma.  Acquisitiveness  and  Conscientiousness  have  long  been  in 
combat.  The  former  came  into  possession  of  some  notes  of  hand, 
and,  on  the  day  they  were  to  be  renewed,  sat  down  composedly  to 
cast  compound  interest  on  the  several  sums.  At  this  moment  Con- 
scientiousness came  in,  declaring  that  Acquisitiveness  was  doing 
wrong.  "  Bigot !  "  cried  Acquisitiveness  :  "  you  are  always  meddling 
with  other  people's  affairs."  "But  you  outrage  justice,"  said  Con- 
scientiousness, in  a  tone  that  showed  he  was  spurred  on  by  his 
neighbor.  Firmness.  "  Grumble, and  growl  away,"  retorted  Acquisi- 
tiveness. "  I  shall  stick  to  my  text,  and  pocket  the  compound  inter- 
est." The  field  was  won  by  the  last  speaker.  Conscientiousness 
retreated,  but  has  kept  up  a  kind  of  predatory  warfare  ever  since. 

This  is  a  good  account,  in  the  jargon  of  that  day,  of  the 
divided  mind  of  many  insane  persons.  As  for  the  intricate 
problems  of  mind  and  matter,  which  even  the  casual  study  of 
insanity  calls  up  for  solution,  we  find  this  utterance  of  Dr. 
Earle,  after  the  preliminary  years  of  his  life  in  asylums  :  — 

The  longer  I  live,  the  more  am  I  impressed  with  a  belief  in  the 
all-controlling  supremacy  of  mind  over  matter,  of  the  far-reaching, 
mysterious  power  of  the  divine  intelligence  within,  and  of  the 
limited  bounds  of  present  knowledge,  compared  with  what  is  to  be 
known  when  mind  shall  have  thrown  off  its  fetters  of  clay.  Science 
is  proud,  even  presumptuous  ;  but  how  much  cause  for  humility  in 
the  fact  that  it  cannot  trace  one  particle  of  its  knowledge  upward, 
through  effects,  to  the  original  cause  and  centre  of  all  things ! 
Science  is  lost  at  once  in  the  mazes  of  uncertainty  and  ignorance, 
whenever  it  attempts  to  fathom  mind  itself. 

Early  in  1844  Dr.  Earle  gave  up  his  prefatory  work  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  entered  on  his  more  public  career  by  taking 
charge  for  five  years  of  the  New  York  Asylum  for  the  Insane 


152  PATIENCE    EARLE  S    LETTER 

at  Bloomingdale,  a  large  and  wealthy  foundation  for  the  care 
and  cure  of  insanity,  which  had  been  receiving  patients  ever 
since  1821.  In  course  of  his  life  there  he  had  much  to  do  with 
settling  the  family  affairs  at  Leicester,  which  are  mentioned  in 
the  following  letter  from  his  mother.  She  wrote  him  from 
Mulberry  Grove  on  his  thirty-sixth  birthday,  when  she  was 
seventy-five  years  old. 

Leicester,  12  mo.,  31,  1845. 

Dear  Son, —  "Procrastination  is  the  thief  of  time."  I  have  neg- 
lected answering  thy  agreeable  and  obliging  letter  for  no  other 
reason  than  what  is  contained  in  the  above  often  quoted  adage,  and 
my  seeming  inability  to  write,  arising  from  such  a  total  disuse  of  a 
pen,  and  want  of  energy  sufficient  to  make  a  beginning. 

We  are  all  in  about  our  usual  state  of  health.  Jonah,  I  think,  is 
better  this  winter  than  he  has  been  for  the  same  length  of  time  for 
several  years.  He  makes  himself  quite  useful  at  the  barn,  is  going 
to-night  to  help  the  Methodists  watch  the  old  year  out  and  the  new 
one  in.  Thy  Uncle  Jonah  is  quite  sick,  has  been  pretty  much  con- 
fined to  his  bed  for  two  weeks ;  and  there  seems  little  probability  of 
his  recovery  at  his  advanced  age. 

With  regard  to  the  business  thou  wrote  about,  I  should  be  exceed- 
ingly glad  to  have  it  settled ;  and  I  see  no  prospect  of  any  other  way 
but  for  thee  to  do  it,  and  for  myself  it  matters  but  very  little  how. 
I  feel  entirely  willing  it  should  be  done  in  a  way  that  thou  would 
not  be  much  of  a  loser,  and,  if  thou  couldst  come  and  attend  to  it 
thyself,  should  be  very  glad  to  see  thee,  and  shall  be  perfectly  will- 
ing to  arrange  the  business  in  a  way  that  appears  to  be  right,  and 
that  will  be  satisfactory  to  thee.  We  have  paid  out  a  great  deal  for 
repairs,  etc.,  besides  the  debt  to  Waldo.  But  I  feel  very  desirous  to 
see  it  settled,  and  shall  consider  it  a  great  favor  for  thee  to  do  it. 

There  are  some  other  things  that  I  want  to  consult  about ;  and  I 
feel  as  though  they  ought  to  be  seen  to  before  it  is  too  late,  and  very 
sensibly  feel  that  whatever  I  do  must  of  necessity  be  done  soon.  So 
that,  if  thou  canst  make  it  at  all  consistent  with  thy  employment  to 
come,  I  should  feel  very  glad  and  greatly  obliged  ;  and  I  think  we 
may  get  our  matters  satisfactorily  arranged,  and  so  as  to  be  a  great 
relief  to  my  mind. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have    received   thy  letter,   and   think 


1839-1845  153 

the  way  thou  proposes  may  likely  be  the  best.  I  have  long 
thought  that  there  niight  be  a  part  of  the  land  sold  off,  to  good 
advantage,  at  some  future  time.  If  thou  should  conclude  to  come, 
please  to  let  us  know  when. 

We  are  in  hopes  thy  Uncle  Jonah  is  getting  better,  though  he  is 
very  weak,  and  it  will  be  hard  for  him  to  regain  his  strength. 

They  have  been  making  a  survey  for  a  railroad  from  Worcester  to 
Barre,  and  past  between  Amos's  factory  and  WilHam's.  Please  to 
write  soon.  Thy  affectionate  mother, 

Patience  Earle. 

This  epistle  verifies  the  character  given  of  Mrs.  Earle  by  her 
son, — affectionate,  sensible,  and  patient,  with  no  remarkable 
gift  of  expression,  but  much  perception  and  practical  faculty. 
Her  son  Jonah,  here  mentioned,  was  the  youngest  of  her  nine 
children,  and,  except  Sarah  Hadwen,  the  earliest  to  die.  He 
was  odd  and  not  brilliant,  but  noted  for  occasional  turns  of  wit, 
and  with  the  family  admiration  for  beauty. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

ASYLUM    LABORS    AND    EXPERIENCE. 

Seldom  has  a  specialist  in  the  care  of  the  insane  been  more 
carefully  and  gradually  trained  for  that  difficult  work  than  was 
Dr.  Earle.  His  graduating  thesis  at  Philadelphia  in  1837  was 
on  the  general  subject  of  Insanity,  in  regard  to  which  he  had 
been  frequently  an  observer  of  the  treatment  of  patients  by 
Dr.  S.  B.  Woodward  at  the  Massachusetts  Lunatic  Hospital 
in  Worcester.  This  gentleman,  "whose  affable  manners  and 
enthusiasm  in  his  work,"  says  Dr.  Earle,  "were  well  calculated 
to  fascinate  a  neophyte  in  the  profession,"  was  long  at  the 
head  of  the  Worcester  Hospital,  and  ranks  high  among  the 
earlier  specialists  of  America.  A  part  of  Dr.  Earle's  thesis  was 
published  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  (to 
which  he  contributed  for  nearly  half  a  century)  in  August, 
1838,  under  the  too  comprehensive  title  of  "The  Causes,  Dura- 
tion, Termination,  and  Moral  Treatment  of  Insanity,"  neither 
of  which  divisions  of  the  subject  could  be  very  well  known  to 
the  medical  student  at  that  early  date ;  but  the  statistics  in- 
volved in  the  treatise  were  then  more  numerous  than  any 
collection  of  them  before  published  in  the  United  States.  In 
this,  the  peculiar  field  of  Dr.  Earle  as  a  theorizer  on  Insanity, 
he  was  thus  at  work  betimes  ;  and  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  see 
that  any  useful  theory  must  have  careful  statistics  for  its  basis. 
He  showed  this  demonstratively  in  his  "  History  of  the  Bloom- 
ingdale  Asylum,"  published  in  1848, —  a  volume  containing 
statistical  records  of  all  the  cases  received  there  from  the 
opening  of  that  New  York  asylum  in  1821  to  the  close  of 
1844.  These  were  thoroughly  analyzed,  and  so  presented  as 
to  lead  easily  to  general  conclusions,  towards  which  Dr.  Earle 
was  working  his  way  by  close  and  systematic  observation  of 
his  patients. 

Examples  of  his  method  and  results  may  be  given.     When  he 


1839-1S47  155 

took  charge  of  patients  at  Frankford,  the  great  authority  of 
Dr.  Rush,  as  before  intimated,  had  begun  to  wane  after  half 
a  century,  and  there  were  sceptics  who  questioned  the  Rush 
specific  of  bleeding  the  insane  ;  but  this  practice  was  still  much 
in  vogue  at  Frankford,  though  not  so  universally  as  Rush  had 
urged.  Head-shaving,  blistering,  or  liberal  cupping  of  the 
scalp  were  also  often  prescribed  by  the  visiting  physicians, 
whose  authority  was  greater  than  that  of  the  young  resident. 
Dr.  Earle  soon  convinced  himself  that  such  treatment  did  more 
harm  than  good,  and  never  prescribed  it.  At  Bloomingdale  he 
followed  the  same  safe  course,  rarely  using  venesection  there, 
and  never  cupping  the  scalp.  When,  finally,  he  wrote  an  essay 
on  the  subject,  his  own  observations  confirmed  the  great 
authorities  he  cited  against  bleeding.  His  studies  of  the 
rapidity  of  pulse  in  the  insane  were  pursued  for  years  at  Frank- 
ford and  Bloomingdale,  and  his  essays,  when  published,  carried 
conviction.  At  that  time  (before  1846)  an  extract  of  Conium 
TnaculatiLm  was  very  extensively  used  upon  the  insane,  but  its 
precise  results  were  in  doubt.  In  order  to  learn,  by  actual 
experiment,  both  the  effect  of  this  drug  and  the  comparative 
strength  of  the  American  and  English  preparations  of  it,  Dr. 
Earle  himself  took  a  succession  of  constantly  enlarging  doses, 
and  thus  learned  experimentally  that  it  did  not  have  the  effect 
generally  ascribed  to  it.  From  the  first  he  had  relied  on  moral 
treatment  rather  than  on  drugs  and  mechanical  aids ;  and, 
though  he  found  that  invention  of  professional  indolence,  the 
"tranquillizing  chair,"  in  use  both  at  Frankford  and  Blooming- 
dale,—  together  with  muffs,  wristers,  and  other  leathern  induce- 
ments to  quiet,  which  the  attendants  employed  freely  in  order 
to  remain  quiet  themselves, —  he  soon  diminished  their  use 
or  entirely  abolished  them.  Of  course,  those  abominations 
of  water-torture  which  he  had  seen  used  in  Paris  *  he  never 
employed,  any  more  than  the  primitive  restraining  apparatus  of 
Constantinople.  But  he  addressed  himself  to  the  mind  and 
moral  sense  of  his  patients,  introducing  lectures  and  scientific 
experiments  (for  the  first  time  in  America)  and  soon  a  school 
of  instruction  for  the  patients.     This  he  established  at  Bloom- 

*See  pages  94  and  137;  also  the  Appendix. 


156  TREATMENT    OF    THE    INSANE 

ingdale  in  the  autumn  of  1845,  and  found  it  of  much  value  in 
many  ways.  His  invention  has  since  been  rediscovered  in  many 
asylums,  and  sometimes  vaunted  by  more  recent  experts  as 
their  own  invention. 

Of  the  impression  made  by  Dr.  Earle  on  his  associates  in  the 
slow  and  difficult  task  of  improving  the  treatment  of  the  insane, 
whether  rich  or  poor,  in  America,  I  find  a  striking  evidence  in 
a  letter  from  Dr.  Edward  Jarvis,  of  Concord,  who  took  the  first 
census  of  the  insane  and  idiotic  in  Massachusetts  (and  up  to 
this  time  the  most  complete  one)  in  1854.  A  few  years  later 
(April,  1857)  he  thus  wrote  to  Dr.  Earle,  then  living  in  retire- 
ment at  Leicester,  and  giving  some  aid  to  Judge  Washburn  in 
his  preparation  of  a  history  of  that  town  :  — 

You  have  never  been  forgotten  or  ignored  by  me  since  I  first  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  at  your  asylum  (Frankford)  in  August, 
1842.  Your  reception  of  me  was  then  very  cordial,  and  left  a  very 
happy  and  abiding  impression  on  my  mind.  I  had  been  long  living 
beyond  the  mountains  in  Louisville,  Ky.  Homesick  and  disheart- 
ened, I  returned,  hoping  to  meet  those  who  cared  for  the  things  that 
had  interested  me  in  Massachusetts.  Fortunately,  I  went  to  Phila- 
delphia on  my  way,  and  saw  you.  Your  greetings  and  Dr.  Kirk- 
bride's  revived  me.  You  were  both  strangers  to  my  eye,  but  not  to 
my  sympathies  ;  for  you  gave  me  that  cordial  sympathy  that  I  had 
been  longing  for  through  the  five  years  of  my  dwelling  in  the  West. 
From  that  moment  I  felt  restored  to  my  Eastern  home.  You  gave 
me  a  copy  of  your  "  Visit  to  Thirteen  Asylums,"  and  I  read  and  en- 
joyed it.  It  opened  my  eyes  to  a  larger  field,  for  which  I  had  been 
yearning. 

Dr.  Earle  was  indeed  fitted  by  nature  and  experience  to  in- 
troduce new  methods,  and  recall  men  from  tradition  and  routine 
to  the  teachings  of  kindly  observation  and  plain  good  sense. 
Never  too  forward  in  seeking  innovation,  he  based  it  on  his 
own  observation  and  the  authority  of  men  who  had  tested  their 
own  work  ;  and  he  never  fell  back  from  experience  thus  gained, 
whatever  might  be  the  popular  or  the  professional  delusion  of 
the  moment.  Coming  to  a  profession  much  devoted  to  those 
false  objects  of  worship  named  by  Bacon  "idols  of  the  cave" 


1839-1847  157 

and  "  idols  of  the  forum,"  he  had  the  advantage  of  entering 
late,  when  his  judgment  was  matured  and  his  knowledge  of 
practical  affairs  (as  we  have  seen)  was  much  greater  than  that 
of  the  city-bred  medical  student.  He  belonged  to  a  body  of 
Christians,  also,  who  looked  with  cool  and  searching  eyes  at 
most  of  the  shams  and  hypocrisies  of  modern  life,  and  sought 
their  guidance  from  within  rather  than  from  without.  Yet  this 
freedom  of  mind  was  tempered  by  a  moderation  that  seldom 
gave  offence  to  prejudice,  and  by  a  real  respect  for  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  of  others.  As  Burke  said  of  Fox,  "To  his  great 
understanding  he  joined  the  utmost  degree  of  moderation,  was 
of  the  most  artless,  candid,  open,  and  benevolent  disposition, 
and  without  one  drop  of  gall  in  his  composition."  He  also 
deserved  that  term  and  that  definition  given  by  Hazlitt  to  one 
of  his  characters  :  "  He  was  by  nature  a  gentleman,  by  which 
I  mean  that  he  had  a  certain  deference  and  respect  for  the 
person  of  every  man." 

How  foreign  this  often  is  to  the  New  England  nature  need 
not  here  be  insisted  on  ;  nor  how  often,  even  when  beset  by  ill- 
health  and  misconstrued  in  his  action  and  motive,  Dr.  Earle 
rose  above  the  influence  of  his  locality.  Seldom,  indeed,  do  we 
see  the  child  of  nature  and  the  man  of  the  world,  simplicity, 
experience,  and  urbanity,  so  mingled  as  they  were  in  him.  If 
this  laid  him  open  to  attack  and  to  those  wounds  which  selfish- 
ness inflicts  on  sensibility,  his  fund  of  benevolence  and  good 
sense  soon  healed  the  hurts  which  arrogance  and  exposed  im- 
posture might  make.  Nor  is  it  common  to  find  persons  so 
capable  of  keen  mental  vision  both  at  long  and  short  range  — 
so  telescopic  and  so  microscopic  —  as  he  was.  Both  kinds  of 
vision  are  needed  in  the  patient  investigation  of  truth,  espe- 
cially in  the  care  of  the  insane. 

When  Dr.  Earle  took  charge  of  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  it  had  existed  for  nearly  twenty-three 
years,  and  contained  little  more  than  100  patients.  It  had  re- 
ceived in  that  period  about  2,150  patients,  at  the  rate  of  about 
90  a  year;  but  these  had  been  admitted  2,937  times, —  that  is, 
there  were  nearly  800  more  cases  than  persons  under  treat- 
ment.     This   fact  early  called   Dr.    Earle's   attention  to   the 


158  THE    BLOOMINGDALE    ASYLUM 

fallacy  which  he  afterwards  so  thoroughly  exposed, —  founding 
a  percentage  of  recoveries  on  the  cases  rather  than  the  persons. 
He  also  saw  the  necessity  of  sifting  out  the  inebriates  from  the 
actually  insane,  and  of  not  confounding,  as  so  many  of  his  col- 
leagues did,  temporary  sobriety  with  restored  sanity.  Among 
the  2,150  persons  who  had  been  received  at  Bloomingdale,  322, 
or  more  than  one-seventh,  came  as  inebriates,  and  had  594  ad- 
missions, or  more  than  one-fifth  of  all  admissions.  They  also 
made  more  than  500  "recoveries,"  and  some  of  them  were 
received  a  dozen  times  in  the  twenty-three  years.  Of  1,841 
persons  really  insane  when  admitted  (2,308  cases),  the  re- 
coveries were,  in  all  but  726,  at  the  asylum,  though  18  more 
recovered  after  discharge,  so  that  the  percentage  of  actual 
recovery  in  twenty-six  years,  based  on  persons,  not  cases,  was 
but  40,  while  of  these  more  than  105  relapsed,  many  of  whom 
died  insane.  The  permanent  recoveries,  therefore,  were  less 
than  34  per  cent,  (about  one-third  of  all  admitted)  ;  and  even 
this  small  proportion  has  not  been  maintained  in  the  State  of 
New  York  —  and  probably  not  elsewhere  —  in  the  half-century 
that  has  since  elapsed.  At  the  beginning  of  1844,  when  New 
York  (the  State)  had  a  population  of  about  2,500,000,  and  the 
city  had  about  350,000,  there  were  but  751  patients  in  all  the 
insane  asylums  then  existing.  Three  years  later  they  had 
increased  to  1,125.  There  are  now  (January,  1898)  nearly 
22,000,  though  the  population  has  only  increased  to  about 
7,000,000.  Permanent  recoveries  in  the  mass  of  the  New  York 
City  insane  are  now  less  than  15  per  cent.,  and  in  the  State  at 
large  not  above  20  per  cent.,  so  that  the  recovery  rate  has 
greatly  declined  in  the  half-century  following  Dr.  Earle's  re- 
tirement from  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum,  which  took  place 
early  in  1849. 

For  this  decline  in  the  recoveries  many  causes  have  been 
alleged,  and  many  hare  doubtless  existed.  But  it  was  Dr. 
Earle's  opinion  —  resulting  from  his  personal  experience  in 
small  hospitals  and  in  larger  ones  —  that  one  great  cause  was 
the  increasing  size  of  such  establishments,  which  practically 
forbade  that  best  form  of  treatment  which  he  and  his  earlier 
colleagues,  Brigham  of  Utica,  Ray  of  Providence,  Bell  at  the 


1839-1847  159 

McLean  Asylum  near  Boston,  Todd  and  Butler  at  Hartford, 
and  Kirkbride  at  Philadelphia  (all  in  small  asylums),  could  give 
with  favorable  results.  He  never  abandoned  this  opinion, 
which  led  him,  in  his  later  years,  into  some  controversy  with 
those  of  his  specialty  who  had  yielded  to  the  apparent  demand 
for  huge  asylums  under  the  name  of  "  hospitals,"  reaching 
now  in  some  American  instances  the  monstrous  total  of  2,300 
inmates,  and  in  the  London  County  Asylum  of  more  than 
4,000.  Speaking  at  Boston  in  1868  before  the  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society,  he  said  :  — 

I  desire  here  to  quote  from  myself  an  opinion  published  in  1852, 
after  an  examination  of  the  German  hospitals  and  a  perusal  of 
much  that  had  been  written  in  Germanic  countries  :  "  It  appears  to 
me  that  the  true  method  in  regard  to  lunatic  asylums  is  this  :  let  no 
institution  have  more  than  two  hundred  patients,  and  let  all  receive 
both  curables  and  incurables  in  their  natural  proportion  from  their 
respective  districts."  The  only  modification  which  I  would  now 
make  is  an  extension  of  the  limit  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  patients, 
and  this  only  because  of  the  large  proportion  of  incurables  among 
the  existing  insane.  In  no  other  way  can  the  insane  be  so  well  and 
so  effectively  treated,  and  the  greatest  probability  of  their  restoration 
assured.  The  superintendent  can  obtain  a  sufficiently  thorough 
knowledge  of  every  patient.  Inspection  by  him  may  be  frequent,  all 
details  of  treatment,  medical  and  moral,  may  be  known  to  him,  and 
hence  the  greatest  efficiency  secured.  All  the  labor  of  which  the 
patients  are  capable  may  be  obtained,  and  a  large  part  of  it  devoted 
to  the  care  of  the  curable,  the  sick,  and  the  excited,  thus  diminishing 
the  necessity  for  paid  employees. 

All  these  advantages  were  in  fact  obtained  by  Dr.  Earle  at 
Bloomingdale,  so  far  as  the  social  condition  of  his  patients 
(mainly  from  wealthy  families,  in  his  time)  would  permit  their 
manual  employment,  in  regard  to  which  he  held  equally  posi- 
tive opinions.  These  he  was  able  to  carry  out  at  the  North- 
ampton Hospital,  where  he  spent  the  last  third  of  his  life, 
having  spent  the  first  third  in  preparing  himself,  by  study  and 
practice  of  many  kinds,  to  take  the  best  care  of  the  insane. 
Just  before  going  to  Northampton  as  superintendent,  he  de- 


l6o  EMPLOYMENT  OF  THE  INSANE 

livered  before  the  Berkshire  Medical  School   in   Pittsfield  an 
address  on  "  Psychologic  IMedicine,"  in  which  he  said  :  — 

Manual  labor  is  universally  eulogized  as  among  the  most  potent 
curative  means,  and  yet  it  is  as  universally  intimated  that  it  is  never 
required  of  a  patient  without  his  cheerful  volition.  But  there  are 
some  patients  —  a  class  of  patients  —  who  can  be  cured  by  labor, 
and  apparently  by  nothing  else.  If  they  do  not  resort  to  it,  they 
become  apathetic  and  incurable.  Very  many  have  thus  died  who 
might  have  been  cured  by  labor.  In  these  cases,  why  is  the  only 
medicament  which  will  effect  a  cure  not  prescribed  and  administered  ? 
If  the  patient  required  an  emetic,  would  it  not  be  administered  ?  If 
he  refused  to  eat,  would  he  not  be  fed,  if  necessary,  under  coercion  ? 
Yes,  drugs  and  medicine  may  be  forced  upon  a  patient  till  he  be- 
comes a  perfect  apothecar)''s  shop,  and  all  is  right ;  but  an  attempt 
to  force  him  to  the  genial,  wholesome,  and  curative  exercise  of 
manual  labor  is  an  outrage  upon   humanity. 

No  such  nonsense  disfigured  the  medical  record  of  Dr.  Earle, 
and  he  did  not  allow  a  supposed  public  opinion  (probably  non- 
existent) to  prevent  him  from  administering  labor  as  a  remedy 
and  a  means  of  discipline.  Whether  this  had  aught  to  do  with 
his  short  term  of  office  at  New  York  I  have  never  heard,  but 
it  is  conceivable.  By  the  time  he  was  offered  the  position  at 
Northampton,  this  squeamishness  about  labor  had  been  over- 
come, at  least  for  that  hospital,  the  inmates  of  which  were 
mostly  paupers  of  foreign  parentage  then  ;  and  he  was  allowed 
to  employ  them  on  the  large  farm  to  such  advantage  that,  after 
the  first  year,  the  work  done  by  patients  materially  reduced  the 
cost  of  their  support,  while  it  also  furnished  them  with  a  better 
dietary  of  vegetables,  milk,  fruit,  etc.,  than  most  of  the  other 
Massachusetts  hospitals  enjoyed.  To  such  an  extent  was  this 
economy  carried,  with  no  stinting  of  the  patients,  that  this 
hospital,  which  he  found  in  debt,  and  for  which  it  had  been 
needful  often  to  ask  State  appropriations,  did,  under  his  long 
administration,  save  from  its  board-price  (fixed  by  law  for  the 
poor  at  S3. 25  and  S3. 50  a  week)  enough  to  pay  extraordinary 
expenses  in  land,  buildings,  repairs,  etc.,  amounting  to  some 


1839-1847  i6i 

^200,000.  Thus  he  demonstrated  in  practice  what  he  taught 
in  theory  at  Pittsfield  and  that  of  which  he  was  convinced  at 
Bloomingdale. 

Had  his  five  years  in  Bloomingdale  done  nothing  more  than 
enable  Dr.  Earle  to  publish  his  account  of  that  asylum's  sta- 
tistical history  since  1821,  it  would  have  been  time  well  spent; 
for  in  that  work  he  pointed  the  way  to  the  proper  collection 
and  use  of  statistics  of  the  insane,  in  which  he  has  been  tardily 
followed  by  other  experts,  and  by  whole  States  and  countries. 
His  standard  book  on  the  "  Curability  of  the  Insane  "  was  but 
the  development,  for  a  special  purpose,  of  his  system  in  the 
narrower  field  of  the  small  asylum  he  was  then  directing.  The 
average  number  of  his  patients,  while  at  New  York,  was  but 
125,  and  they  were  more  largely  of  native  American  parentage 
than  can  now  be  found  in  any  hospital  near  a  large  American 
city ;  nor  had  the  variety  of  diseases  now  included  under  the 
loose  general  term  "insanity"  become  common  even  in  New 
York.  The  first  case  of  paresis  (now  so  painfully  common 
even  in  rural  asylums)  ever  described  in  the  United  States  was 
examined  and  described  by  Dr.  Earle  in  1847  3-t  his  asylum; 
and  subsequent  observations  on  this  disease  were  contributed 
by  him  to  the  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences  in  1849  ^^^ 
1857,  his  first  paper  having  appeared  there  in  April,  1847. 
With  his  accustomed  precision  he  proposed  to  call  this  malady 
(known  to  the  French  who  discovered  it  as  paralysie  ginerale) 
by  the  more  exact  name  of  " partio-general  paralysis";  but 
the  short  Greek  term  "  paresis,"  generally  mispronounced,  has 
supplanted  both  names,  and  the  English  have  even  carried 
abbreviation  so  far  as  to  speak  of  it  as  "  G.  P."  In  after  years 
Dr.  Earle  had  occasion  to  see  many  examples  of  this  disease, 
but  his  first  diagnosis  is  believed  to  have  been  in  the  main  con- 
firmed by  all  his  later  observation.  And  this  general  remark 
may  hold  good  of  both  his  periods  of  executive  management 
in  small  asylums,  at  Frankford  and  Bloomingdale, —  that  he 
learned  therein,  at  comparative  leisure,  what  he  afterwards  had 
occasion  to  teach  and  practise  on  the  much  more  extensive 
arena  where  he  found  himself  after  his  second  visit  to  Europe 
in  1849.     In  connection  with  his  duties  and  his  acquired  repu- 


l62  THE    INSANE    OF    NEW    YORK 

tation  at  Bloomingdale,  he  was  in  1847  appointed,  without  pre- 
vious notice  to  himself,  one  of  a  board  of  physicians  to  visit  the 
City  Lunatic  Asylum  on  Blackwell's  Island,  which  then  con- 
tained something  more  than  four  hundred  pauper  patients. 
The  governors  of  Bloomingdale,  however,  thought  this  outside 
duty  an  interference  with  his  regular  work  in  their  asylum, 
and  he  made  but  one  official  visit  to  this  pauper  asylum. 
Could  he  have  continued  in  the  position,  it  is  probable  that 
this  fast-growing  and  usually  ill-managed  island  establishment 
would  have  made  a  better  record  for  itself.  The  insane  asy- 
lums of  New  York  City,  and  those  in  Kings  County,  now 
included  in  Greater  New  York,  have  had  great  need  of  the 
practical  sense,  the  courageous  humanity,  and  the  consider- 
ate frugality  of  men  like  Dr.  Earle.  After  a  long  period  of 
neglect  and  abuse,  often  exposed,  but  never  sufficiently  cor- 
rected, they  have  finally  passed  under  the  experienced  control 
of  Dr.  P.  M.  Wise,  of  the  State  Lunacy  Commission  of  New 
York ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  they  will  now  attain  a  character 
worthy  of  the  great  city  which  sends  its  unfortunates  to  fill 
and  overcrowd  their  wards. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE    GERMAN    ASYLUMS. 


Next  to  his  later  book  on  Curability,  Dr.  Earle's  chief  single 
work  was  that  which  he  published  in  1853,  entitled  "Institu- 
tions for  the  Insane  in  Prussia,  Austria,  and  Germany."  It 
grew  out  of  his  observations  during  a  second  tour  in  Europe, 
in  1849,  of  which  mention  has  already  been  made.  But  he 
took  infinite  pains  to  enlarge  and  correct  those  observations  by 
a  study  of  the  history,  statistics,  and  general  character  of  each 
establishment  inspected,  and  as  many  more  which  he  did  not 
see.  In  all,  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1849  he  visited 
thirty-five  establishments  in  Europe,  eight  in  Great  Britain, 
five  in  Belgium  (including  Gheel,  not  yet  reformed  by  govern- 
ment inspection  and  control),  six  in  France,  seven  in  Prussian 
Germany,  six  in  other  German  States,  two  in  Austria,  and 
finally  one  in  the  imperial  free  city  of  Frankfort.  Few  subse- 
quent visitors  from  America  have  seen  so  many,  and  none,  ex- 
cept Mr.  William  P.  Letchworth  of  New  York,  has  published 
such  valuable  and  impartial  accounts  of  the  European  asy- 
lums. Nearly  fifty  years  have  since  passed,  and  many  have 
been  the  changes,  social,  economical,  and  political,  affecting 
the  countries  visited  and  the  whole  subject  of  insanity;  but 
Dr.  Earle's  book  of  230  octavo  pages  has  still  much  value, 
both  from  its  historical  information  and  the  tone  of  can- 
dor and  practicality  which  pervades  it.  Before  its  publication 
German  was  little  studied  in  the  United  States.  Few  young 
men  went  to  the  German  universities,  and  very  little  was  known 
here  of  the  insane  and  their  treatment  in  any  country  where 
German  was  the  vernacular.  Consequently,  an  important  part 
of  human  experience  on  this  subject  was  either  wholly  unknown 
or  very  imperfectly  understood  ;  and  a  wide  range  was  given 
to  that  natural  and  almost  national  foible  of  our  countrymen, — 
the  fancy  that  we  surpass  all  the  world  in  enlightenment  and 


164  GERMAN    ASYLUMS    IN     1849 

humanity.  Travel  and  study  and  the  immigration,  since 
1849,  of  millions  of  Germans,  have  modified  all  this  ;  but  it  is 
even  now  too  common  for  experts  in  "  psychiatry,"  as  the 
Germans  call  the  specialty,  to  neglect  the  varied  and  often 
admirable  German  asylums,  and  the  literature  of  the  science, 
various,  profound,  and  often  most  practical  in  its  teachings, 
which  comes  to  us  from  the  German-speaking  countries,  in- 
cluding Austria  and  Switzerland.  Even  in  1849,  as  Dr.  Earle 
himself  remarked,  he  found  in  those  countries  "  a  long  list  of 
men  eminent  in  the  specialty,  who  had  produced  a  surprisingly 
large  amount  of  published  matter,  both  of  speculative  research 
into  the  origin  and  essential  nature  of  insanity  and  of  treatises 
on  its  practical  care  and  recovery."  His  personal  acquaintances 
among  the  men  then  eminent  included  Jacobi,  at  Siegburg  near 
Bonn,  Damerow,  and  Laehr  at  Halle  (near  which,  at  Alt-Scher- 
bitz,  is  now  the  best  of  all  the  German  asylums,  under  the 
charge,  for  nearly  twenty  years,  of  Dr.  Paetz),  Roller  at  Ille- 
nau  in  Baden,  Spurzheim  (a  cousin  of  the  founder  of  the 
pseudo-science  of  phrenology,  who  died  in  Boston  and  is  buried 
at  Mt.  Auburn),  then  at  Vienna,  and  Martini  at  Leubus  in  Sile- 
sia,—  all  in  active  service  as  asylum  superintendents,  and  com- 
paring favorably  in  knowledge  and  practical  fitness  for  their 
positions  with  the  then  prominent  alienists  of  Great  Britain  and 
France.  Indeed,  he  was  himself  surprised  to  find  in  Germany 
"  a  larger  number  of  institutions,  and  those  in  a  condition  more 
advanced,  than  had  been  suspected."  Up  to  that  time  neither 
England,  France,  nor  the  United  States  took  much  account  of 
German  "psychiatry."  The  name  was  puzzling.  The  Germans 
were  viewed  as  chiefly  idle  metaphysicians,  verging  on  infidelity, 
and  little  notice  was  taken  by  the  self-satisfied  Briton  or  the 
roving  American  of  what  might  be  going  on  among  them.  Dr. 
Earle  observed  at  the  outset  of  his  work  : — 

With  a  knowledge  of  the  labors  of  Pinel  and  Tuke,  we  Americans 
had  pursued  our  way  without  the  endeavor  to  push  researches 
beyond  Great  Britain  and  France.  We  had  the  excellent  work  of 
Dr.  Jacobi ;  *  but  he  was  upon  the  very  borders  of  France,  less  distant 

•  Translated  into  English  at  the  suggestion  of  Samuel  Tuke. 


I849-I853  165 

from  Paris  than  Marseilles  is.  Some  volumes  of  Heinroth,  the 
spiritual  Heinroth,  leader  of  the  "  Psychics  "  and  pupil  of  Pinel,  had 
found  their  way,  in  French,  across  the  Atlantic.  Institutions  at 
Schleswig,  Pirna,  Vienna,  and  Prague,  were  incidentally  mentioned 
in  English  and  French  publications  received  here.  Dr.  Ray  has 
visited  Siegburg  and  Illenau.  Further  than  this  we  knew  but  little  of 
the  German  establishments,  had  no  idea  of  their  condition,  and 
knew  not  even  the  existence  of  most  of  them,  and  some  of  those 
among  their  very  best. 

Dr.  Earle  seems  struck  with  the  fact  (which  he  communicates 
here  and  there  in  his  book)  that  the  Saxons  were  the  first 
reformers  of  insane  asylums  in  Germany ;  and  they  continue 
in  the  lead,  in  spite  of  the  fame  of  Vienna.  Heinroth  was  a 
Saxon  (born  at  Leipzig  in  1773,  died  there  in  1843).  Reil  was  a 
Saxon,  and  established  at  Halle  in  1805  the  first  periodical  de- 
voted to  mental  disease;  and  it  was  in  Halle,  in  1S45,  that 
Dr.  Damerow,  a  Saxon,  established  and  printed  the  well-known 
Journal  of  Psychiatry  and  PsycJw-legal  Medicine,  though  for 
convenience  it  was  published  at  Berlin  by  Hirschwald.  Two 
years  earlier  the  Provincial  Asylum  at  Nietleben,  near  Halle, 
had  been  opened  under  Dr.  Damerow  (1843),  from  which  in 
July,  1876,  was  developed  the  beginning  of  the  asylum  at  Alt- 
Scherbitz.  The  history  of  this,  the  latest  development  of  the 
Saxon  spirit  of  progress  in  the  care  of  the  insane,  has  been  well 
set  forth  by  the  director  of  Alt-Scherbitz,  Dr.  Albrecht  Paetz, 
in  his  volume  of  1893,  "The  Colonization  of  the  Insane  in 
Connection  with  the  Open-door  System."  The  parent  asylum, 
a  mile  or  two  out  of  Halle,  which,  when  visited  by  Dr.  Earle, 
six  years  after  its  opening,  had  but  262  patients,  had  become  so 
overcrowded  in  1874  that  a  hundred  of  its  patients  were  in  the 
spare  room  of  a  prison  near  by ;  and  when  I  visited  Saxony  in 
1893,  half  a  century  after  the  opening  of  Nietleben,  the  two 
asylums  there  and  at  Alt-Scherbitz  contained  more  than  1,300 
inmates,  or  five  times  as  many  as  at  Dr.  Earle's  visit.  There 
was  no  talk  in  1849  of  ^^^  "Open-door  System";  and  Dame- 
row employed  as  means  of  restraint  camisoles,  muffs,  and 
leathern  straps.     "  But  I  saw  no  strong  chairs,"  adds  the  com- 


l66  THE    GERMAN    ASYLUMS 

passionate  American.  Even  then  much  work  was  done  on  the 
large  farm  by  the  men,  and  in  the  kitchen  and  sewing-room  by 
the  women.  There  were  several  shops  for  artisans  ("but  I  did 
not  go  into  them");  and  the  farm  "produces  all  the  vegetables 
consumed  in  the  establishment,  besides  many  for  market." 
This  good  custom  of  labor,  as  has  been  said.  Dr.  Earle  after- 
wards introduced  most  effectively  at  Northampton.  More  than 
a  third  part  of  the  cost  of  the  Alt-Scherbitz  asylum  for  its  in- 
mates is  now  borne  by  the  product  of  the  labor  of  its  850 
patients. 

Dr.  Earle  entered  Germany  by  the  lower  Rhine,  and  made 
his  first  visit  to  Dr.  Maximilian  Jacobi  at  the  small  asylum  of 
Siegburg,  on  the  river  Sieg,  just  above  its  confluence  with  the 
Rhine,  north  of  Bonn.  It  was  an  old  Benedictine  monastery, 
founded  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  diverted  to  the  use  of 
persons  more  insane  than  monks  in  1825.  It  was  the  first  of 
curative  hospitals  for  insanity  in  Prussia,  and  long  had  a  high 
reputation  there  and  abroad.  Its  capacity  was  for  two  hundred, 
and  the  cost  of  adapting  it  to  its  alienist  uses  was  less  than 
^100,000.  Its  annual  cost  in  1849,  ^or  less  than  two  hundred 
patients,  did  not  exceed  ^30,000.  It  reported  about  30  per 
cent,  of  its  patients  as  "  cured,"  but  one-fifth  of  them  relapsed. 
The  number  of  deaths  was  singularly  small.  Dr.  Jacobi  was 
thought  by  his  visitor  to  bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  that 
handsome  old  American  ahenist.  Dr.  Woodward,  first  superin- 
tendent of  the  Worcester  Hospital, — "  his  presence  command- 
ing, his  manners  unpretending  and  affable,  yet  with  manly 
dignity."     His  opinions  were  sound  and  frankly  expressed  :  — 

Of  every  hundred  recoveries  in  the  hospital,  he  thinks  that  no 
more  than  twenty  are  affected  by  medical  treatment.  The  rest  he 
attributes  to  hygienic,  disciplinary,  and  moral  means.  Manual  labor 
he  considers  the  most  effective  means  for  cure,  under  the  head  of 
"  moral  treatment."  A  large  part  of  his  patients  work.  They  are 
given  to  understand,  soon  after  admission,  that  this  is  expected  of 
them  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  higher-class  patients  keep  the 
walks  in  the  gardens  and  grounds  clear,  and  have  various  light 
agricultural  employments.  Patients  are  also  instructed  in  literary 
knowledge  and  in  music. 


1849-1853  i67 

Nevertheless,  the  medical  means  and  the  mechanical  re- 
straints used  by  this  veteran  of  the  Rhine  Province  would  make 
a  modern  alienist  "  stare  and  gasp."  "  He  has  employed  opium 
with  benefit  in  melancholia,  not  in  mania.  He  sometimes  uses 
setons.  A  more  favorite  external  remedy  is  tartar  emetic.  The 
vertex  of  the  head  being  shaved,  antimonial  ointment  is  applied 
until  it  produces  ulceration.  He  also  hails  with  pleasure  the 
appearance  of  intermittent  fever  among  his  patients,  since  it 
generally  results  in  the  permanent  cure  of  several  from  insanity. 
The  camisole  and  'tranquillizing  chair'  are  the  principal  means 
of  restraint.  The  patient  subjected  to  the  shower-bath,  involun- 
tarily, is  confined  in  a  strong  chair  beneath  it." 

Dr  Earle  noted  at  Siegburg  and  elsewhere  that  German 
physicians  studied  mental  disease  very  thoroughly  and  minutely. 
"  A  consultation  of  all  the  physicians  is  held  upon  every  case 
soon  after  admission,  and  frequently  afterwards,"  — a  custom  of 
quite  recent  introduction  in  most  American  asylums,  if  prac- 
tised at  all.  Dr.  F.  at  Siegburg  "  has  not  only  visited  all  the 
principal  hospitals  for  the  insane  wherever  the  German  lan- 
guage is  spoken,  but  has  passed  five  months  in  some  of  the 
best  hospitals  in  Great  Britain,  and  speaks  English  fluently." 
Though  quite  young,  he  had  contributed  to  the  Zeitschrift 
filr  Psychiatrie  articles  on  "  Typical  Insanity  "  and  "  How  to 
determine  Incurability."  At  Andernach,  near  Coblenz,  and 
at  Diisseldorf,  Dr.  Earle  visited  small  asylums  for  the  incura- 
ble, some  of  whom,  as  coming  from  Siegburg,  Dr.  F,  had 
passed  upon.  In  Andernach  were  one  hundred  and  twenty 
patients,  at  Diisseldorf  one  hundred  and  ten.  At  both  the 
women  seemed  to  do  more  work  than  the  men,  while  about 
equal  in  number.  Dr.  F.  gave  him  a  letter  of  introduction  to 
Dr,  Snell,  of  the  Nassau  Asylum,  then  at  Eberbach,  in  an  old 
monastery,  but  soon  transferred  to  new  buildings  on  the  Eich- 
berg,  near  the  more  famous  Johannisberg,  on  the  Rhine,  whence 
comes  the  wine  of  the  Metternichs.  Visiting  this  combination 
of  ducal  prison  and  insane  hospital.  Dr.  Earle  walked  from 
Erbach,  by  Elfeld,  passing  the  vineyards  of  the  Steinberg  as 
well  as  Johannisberg,  and  found  Eberbach,  as  its  name  — 
"boar's  brook"  —  implies,  in  a  valley  among  hills  instead  of 


1 68  LABOR   AND    AFTER-CARE    IN    NASSAU 

at  the  top  of  the  near  ridge  of  Eichberg,  to  which  its  insane 
inmates  were  soon  removed.  He  found  only  one  hundred  and 
fifty-one  patients,  but  in  its  vicinity  was  an  "After-care 
Society,"  the  first  on  record,  which  had  been  established  by 
Mr.  Lindpaintner  (described  by  Dr.  Damerow  as  the  last  non- 
medical director  of  a  German  institution  for  the  insane)  as 
early  as  1829.  From  that  date  until  1844  it  had  aided  eighty- 
one  discharged  patients,  and,  before  Lindpaintner's  death,  in 
1848,  many  more.  The  little  duchy  of  Nassau,  which  in  1849 
had  but  four  hundred  thousand  people,  thus  took  the  lead  in 
caring  for  its  insane,  under  the  guidance  of  a  layman, —  a  lesson 
not  lost  on  Dr.  Earle. 

At  Eberbach,  as  elsewhere  in  Germany,  "industry"  was  the 
M^atchword  of  the  hospital.  At  times  the  wards  were  almost 
empty  of  men,  most  of  whom  were  at  work  in  the  garden  or  at 
the  grounds  of  the  new  hospital  on  the  Eichberg  near  by,  to 
which  all  the  patients  moved  a  few  months  later.  The  chapel 
of  the  monks  had  become  a  wine-press,  and  their  refectory  a 
sewing-room  for  the  women ;  while  some  of  the  men  were  busy 
at  tailoring  and  other  trades.  In  the  high-vaulted  and  frescoed 
sewing-room  women  were  spinning  as  well  as  sewing  and  knit- 
ting. On  a  hillside  not  far  off  the  private  patients  of  rank 
were  gardening  with  hoes  and  rakes,  or  weeding  the  flower- 
beds. Dr.  Snell  said  that  the  friends  of  his  patients  always 
wished  them  to  labor,  if  the  medical  officer  thought  it  best. 
Indeed,  he  thought  the  fact  that  general  paralysis  was  almost 
unknown  in  the  hospital  was  due  to  the  exercise  of  so  many  of 
his  patients  in  the  open  air, —  a  conclusion  which  Dr.  Earle  did 
not  accept  any  more  than  later  alienists  would.  "  The  cause 
must  be  sought  in  their  habits  of  life  before  admission,"  he 
thought. 

From  Eberbach  our  tourist  proceeded  to  Frankfort,  the 
home  of  Goethe,  even  in  whose  time  there  was  a  small  insane 
hospital.  Indeed,  it  is  recorded  that  in  1728,  twenty-one  years 
before  the  birth  of  Goethe,  funds  were  raised  to  improve  this 
Frankfort  mad-house.  At  Dr.  Earle's  visit  the  city  asylum, 
managed  by  Dr.  Varrentrapp, —  father  and  son, —  contained  83 
inmates,  chiefly  paupers,  with  ten  attendants,  the  city  at  that 


1849-1853  i69 

time  containing  some  50,000  people.  There  was  no  farm,  and 
the  work  done  was  mechanical.  Evidently,  the  whole  establish- 
ment impressed  the  visitor  unfavorably.  At  present  Frankfort 
has  180,000  people,  and  is  one  of  the  richest  cities  in  the  world 
for  its  size.     Its  insane  are  much  better  provided  for. 

Returning  down  the  Rhine  to  Diisseldorf,  the  next  visit  was 
made  to  Hildesheim,  in  Hanover,  another  old  Benedictine  mon- 
astery, dating  from  looi,  converted  to  an  asylum  in  1827,  and 
containing  in  1849  200  patients,  under  Dr.  Bergmann,  Here 
for  the  first  time  Dr.  Earle  found  much  use  of  baths  as  a  part 
of  the  medical  treatment. 

He  also  found  there  two  establishments,  one  for  the  curable 
and  the  other  for  the  incurable,  separated  only  by  their  gardens 
and  under  the  same  control ;  and  the  curative  hospital  was  in 
two  separate  buildings,  one  for  each  sex.  Consequently,  fewer 
were  discharged  from  the  establishment  than  in  cases  where 
no  asylum  for  incurables  made  part  of  the  plant ;  and,  of  those 
discharged,  the  greater  part  were  supposed  to  be  cured.  Yet 
out  of  540  cases  in  four  years  the  cures  were  but  141  ;  while 
the  deaths  and  removals  to  the  incurable  asylum  were  together 
161,  only  6  out  of  257  being  entered  as  "improved."  This 
seemed  to  Dr.  Earle  "  inconsistent  with  Dr.  Bergmann's  char- 
acter for  minuteness  and  accuracy  of  investigation."  But  his 
baths  aroused  attention  in  the  American,  for  such  a  method, 
now  common,  was  then  little  practised  here. 

Baths  both  simple  and  medicated  are  used.  Here  for  the  first 
time  in  an  asylum  I  saw  the  vapor  bath.  Cold  water  is  employed 
in  the  neuroses  of  headache,  tic-douloureux,  sciatica,  sleeplessness, 
hypochondria,  hysteria,  and  general  atony.  The  flexible  hose  is  also 
used,  as  I  saw  it  afterwards  at  Berlin,  Illenau,  and  other  places,  for 
applying  either  the  douche  or  shower  affusions  upon  the  head,  when 
the  patient  is  in  the  warm  or  the  tepid  bath. 

Proceeding  from  Hanover  to  Halle  and  Berlin,  Dr.  Earle 
noticed  that  clinical  lectures  to  medical  students  had  long  been 
given  in  Dr.  Ideler's  Charity  Hospital  at  Berlin  and  for  a  few 
years  at  Halle.     He  afterwards   found  clinics  at  Prague,  but 


lyo  IN    PRUSSIA    AND    SAXONY 

not  in  Vienna,  where,  however,  they  were  introduced  soon  after 
by  Dr.  Riedel,  of  Prague,  when  transferred  to  the  new  hospital 
in  Vienna,  among  the  Hlacs  and  shrubbery  of  the  suburb,  where 
I  visited  it  in  1893.  At  Berlin  he  missed  seeing  Dr.  Ideler, 
but  went  through  the  Charity  Hospital  with  the  assistant  phy- 
sicians, and  was  impressed  with  the  truly  Prussian  discipline, 
the  men-patients  all  wearing  uniform, —  a  morning  gown  and 
striped  trousers, —  and  all  rising  to  salute  the  staff  as  they 
entered  the  ward.  Great  stress  was  laid  on  baths,  and  great 
use  made  of  straps  for  restraint,  particularly  bed-straps.  Chlo- 
roform had  become  a  frequent  soporific  ;  and  tartar  emetic  was 
used  for  an  external  irritant,  as  at  Dr.  Jacobi's  in  Siegburg. 

It  was  not  till  he  reached  Sonnenstein,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Saxony,  ten  miles  above  Dresden,  on  the  Elbe,  that  Dr.  Earle 
became  really  enthusiastic  in  praise  of  a  German  asylum. 
This  one  was  opened  in  181 1,  and  was  the  first  of  the  well- 
organized  curative  hospitals  in  any  German  land ;  so  success- 
fully conducted,  too,  that  its  reputation  rose  high,  and  it  served 
as  a  model  for  other  States  and  countries.  Its  buildings  were 
antiquated,  and  in  some  respects  inconvenient,  but  the  spirit 
and  discipline  of  the  establishment  very  satisfactory.  Dr.  Earle 
says  :  — 

I  have  rarely  passed  four  hours  more  agreeably  and  usefully  than 
when  I  accompanied  Dr.  Klotz  in  his  morning  walk  through  the 
establishment.  Everything  was  in  good  order,  bearing  unmistakable 
evidence  of  industry,  system,  discipline,  and  an  ever-watchful  super- 
vision. The  patients,  if  seated,  rose  as  we  entered  the  room.  They 
were  all  well  dressed.  This  has  been  the  case  in  all  the  German 
asylums  I  have  visited, —  this  was  the  ninth, —  for  I  have  not  seen  even 
one  patient  whose  clothes  were  ragged  or  patched.  At  Sonnenstein 
a  high  estimate  is  placed  on  the  curative  influence  of  labor.  Some 
of  the  men  work  on  the  grounds  of  the  institution  ;  others,  with  an 
attendant,  upon  the  neighboring  farms.  There  are  workshops  for 
tailors,  shoemakers,  and  some  other  artisans.  Absolute  coercion  is 
never  resorted  to ;  but  the  deprivation  and  granting  of  privileges, 
and  even  pecuniary  recompense,  are  inducements.  Something  more 
than  $50  is  annually  appropriated  for  these  rewards.  The  purely 
medical  treatment  is  restricted,  as  much  as  possible,  to  a  few  simple 


1849-1853  171 

remedies,  as  rhubarb,  senna,  and  saline  cathartics.  The  hope  of 
cure  is  based  on  suitable  diet,  regularity  of  hours,  discipline,  exer- 
cise, amusements,  and  the  other  means  of  moral  treatment.  Some 
use  is  made  of  baths.  In  ordinary  forms  of  insanity  venesection  is 
never  practised.  Even  local  bleeding  is  rarely  prescribed.  Ether 
and  chloroform  have  been  tried,  but  without  beneficial  results.  For 
262  patients  there  are  3  medical  officers, —  Dr.  Pienitz,  the  director 
(a  pupil  of  Pinel),  Dr.  Klotz,  and  Dr.  Lessing.  Dr.  Pienitz  has 
had  a  number  of  young  physicians  under  his  tuition  at  Pirna 
(Sonnenstein),  among  them  Dr.  Martini,  now  at  Leubus  ;  Dr.  Roller, 
at  Illenau ;  Dr.  Flemming,  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin ;  Dr.  Jessen, 
of  Schleswig;  and  Dr.  Marcher,  of  the  Royal  Danish  Asylum  at 
Copenhagen.  Dr.  Pienitz  has  been  knighted  and  made  Aulic  Coun- 
sellor ;  Dr.  Martini,  Health  Counsellor;  and  Drs.  Flemming  and 
Roller,  Medical  Counsellors, —  all  titles  of  much  honor.  In  this 
kingdom  of  Saxony  the  directors  of  asylums  are  not  merely  experts, 
but  judge  and  jury,  so  far  as  insanity  is  concerned.  Their  opinion 
given  to  the  supreme  courts  is  decisive. 

Here,  then,  the  American  visitor  had  found  a  state  of  things 
long  desired  by  him,  but  never  yet  attained  in  the  United 
States.  On  the  other  hand,  he  had  never  found  the  asylum 
buildings  satisfactory.  They  were  mostly  old  and  ill-adapted  to 
their  final  use,  though  of  good  example,  sometimes,  for  spa- 
ciousness. At  Illenau,  opened  in  1842  under  Dr.  Roller,  the 
pupil  of  Pienitz,  Dr.  Earle  found  buildings  specially  designed 
for  the  insane,  as  most  of  our  asylums  had  been.  This  asylum 
is  in  quite  another  part  of  Germany  from  Sonnenstein,  near  the 
village  of  Achern,  in  the  Rhine  valley,  between  Baden-Baden 
and  Strasbourg,  and  was  built  for  400  patients.  It  takes  its 
name  from  the  river  111,  a  tributary  of  the  Rhine,  and  was  built 
upon  plans  of  Dr.  Roller,  to  receive  the  patients  of  Baden  from 
the  old  and  inadequate  asylums  of  Heidelberg  and  Pforzheim. 
Consequently,  it  received  from  those  two  asylums  more  than 
250  incurables,  so  that  it  could  show,  at  the  end  of  four  years, 
only  III  cures  among  nearly  700  patients,  while  the  deaths  had 
been  Ty.  Its  classification  of  patients  was  very  good,  for  its 
period,  having  been  so  constructed  as  to  receive  ten  classes 
of  each  sex, —  as  many  as  the  Danvers  Hospital  was  built  for. 


172  DR.    MARTIXI  S    ASYLUM    AT    LEUBUS 

a  whole  generation  later.  It  had  in  1849  one  attendant  to 
every  five  patients,  and  a  medical  officer  for  every  108  patients. 
Its  farm  was  small  (43  acres),  and  less  stress  was  put  upon  work 
than  in  several  of  the  German  asylums. 

Much  smaller  was  the  asylum  at  Leubus,  in  Silesia,  where 
Dr.  Earle  found  another  pupil  of  Dr.  Pienitz,  Dr.  Moritz 
Martini,  who  had  been  in  charge  from  the  opening  of  the 
asylum  in  1830.  In  that  time  he  had  treated  more  than  1,500 
patients;  but,  of  1,390  of  them  who  had  been  discharged  up  to 
1847,  less  than  half  (650)  were  cured,  while  more  than  a  sixth 
(237)  had  died.  Among  150  patients  found  there  by  Dr. 
Earle,  120  were  paupers ;  but  for  these  eighteen  attendants  and 
supervisors  were  employed, —  more  than  one  to  every  seven 
patients, —  a  larger  proportion  of  sane  persons  than  is  usually 
found  among  the  insane  poor  in  our  modern  asylums.  These 
paupers  were  clad  in  uniform,  and  did  much  work,  both  on  the 
little  farm  of  thirty  acres  and  in  workshops  for  weaving,  tailor- 
ing, cabinet-making,  carpentry,  and  shoemaking.  One  lesson 
was  there  learned,  which  Dr.  Earle  afterwards  put  in  strict 
practice  at  Northampton,  where  there  had  been  great  need  of 
such  economy:  — 

No  supplies,  even  of  a  handkerchief,  a  shoe-string,  a  broom,  or  an 
ounce  of  salt,  can  be  obtained  without  an  order  from  the  proper 
officer.  If  a  garment  be  torn  or  worn  so  as  to  make  a  new  one 
necessary,  or  if  any  article  has  become  unfit  for  use,  these  must  be 
produced  as  evidences.  A  regular  account  of  debits  and  credits  is 
kept  between  the  various  departments  ;  and  thus  unnecessary  con- 
sumption, carelessness,  and  "  sequestration  "  are  guarded  against. 
No  institution  can  ever  attain  that  perfection  of  good  order  which  is 
a  chief  beauty  in  a  piablic  or  a  private  establishment  without  such  a 
system.* 

*  Upon  his  third  visit  to  Europe,  in  1871,  Dr.  Earle  made  an  effort  to  find  Dr.  Martini,  who  was 
still  active  in  the  specialty,  though  it  was  forty-one  years  since  he  began  his  labors  at  Leubus,  and 
almost  half  a  century  since  he  was  the  pupil  of  Dr.  Pienitz,  at  Sonnenstein.  They  failed  to  meet  for 
a  reason  which  is  given  in  the  following  most  interesting  letter  from  the  old  alienist;  — 

''Dresden,  July  29,  1871. 

"  My  very  dear  Colleagiu,—  I  reached  Dresden  with  my  wife  the  very  day  that  you  had  set  out 
for  Prague;  and  your  letter,  dated  the  25th,  which  you  had  sent  to  Leubus,  only  reached  me  this  day. 
I  hasten  to  thank  you  for  it.  It  is  a  precious  souvenir  for  us  all,  which  makes  us  regret  all  the  more 
that  we  could  not  meet  you  again,  and  express  to  you  the  affectionate  feeling  we  all  cherish  for  you  in 


1849-1853  173 

At  Brieg  and  Plagowitz  there  were  asylums  for  the  incurables 
of  Silesia,  the  former  of  which  Dr.  Earle  visited,  without  admir- 
ing its  arrangements.  In  the  three  provincial  establishments 
fifty  years  ago  there  were  about  400  patients,  and  at  Breslau 
some  30  more ;  that  is,  in  four  establishments  430  inmates,  or 
less  than  are  now  usually  kept  in  one  of  our  American  public 
asylums.  Silesia  at  the  time  had  some  3,000  insane,  and  a 
total  population  of  perhaps  2,500,000,  or  about  the  same  as 
Massachusetts  in   1895. 

Finding  himself  so  near  Austria,  Dr.  Earle  proceeded  next 
to  the  gay  capital  of  that  empire,  and  visited  the  unique  Nar- 
renthurm  ("  Maniacs'  Tower  "),  built  in  1783-84  by  Joseph  II. 
for  a  mad-house  of  the  old  order.  Dr.  Viszanik,  its  director, 
told  his  visitor  it  was  the  first  institution  in  Europe  which, 
from  its  foundation,  was  intended  exclusively  for  the  insane ; 
most  of  the  older  mad-houses  being  originally  either  hospitals 
for  the  sick,  like  the  English  Bedlam,  or  poorhouses  diverted 

our  hearts.  Since  your  visit  to  Leubus  a  score  of  years  lias  slipped  away."  (In  fact,  twenty-two 
years.)  "In  that  period,  characterized  by  every  sort  of  revolution,  political,  moral,  and  religious,  in 
the  midst  of  fearful  events,  and  directed  by  ideas  that  have  overturned  the  old  order  of  things-  and  of 
principles,  I  have  withdrawn  into  the  circle  of  my  family,  and  the  solitude  which  I  have  dwelt  in  for 
five-and-forty  years ;  and  I  practise  there  the  duties  imposed  on  me  by  humanity's  service,  but  aided 
by  my  dear  wife,  my  auxiliary  angel,  who  has  made  me  forget  that  text  of  Matthew's  Gospel,  '  Arcta 
via  est  qus  ducit  ad  vitam.' 

"  Fanny  married  a  Herr  von  Klitzing,  proprietor  of  the  estate  of  Lobetinz  (Kreis  Neumarkt, 
Schlesien).  She  has  five  children,  two  sons  and  three  daughters.  The  eldest,  named  John,  is  seven- 
teen, and  sits  already  in  the  second  class  at  the  high  school  of  Tasser.  Three  girls  come  next, — Ella, 
sixteen ;  Fanny,  fourteen  ;  and  Catharine,  twelve.  The  younger  son,  nine  years  old,  bears  the  name 
of  his  grandfather,  Moritz.  He  is  a  fine  lad,  full  of  talents,  and  with  much  esprit.  May  the  good  God 
hold  over  him  a  protecting  hand !  " 

(Up  to  this  point  the  letter  is  in  fairly  good  French ;  but  Dr.  Moritz  Martini  here  says,  "  The 
French  language  bothers  me  {me  gefie).  Permit  me  to  finish  this  letter  making  use  of  my  mother 
tongue,"  and  continues  in  German.) 

"  Fanny,  my  only  child,  has  brought  up  her  children  admirably.  She  has  the  good  fortune  that 
all  her  children  are  healthy,  strong,  and  well  formed,  mentally  gifted,  and  good-natured.  This  com- 
pensates her  for  many  deprivations  which  life  on  a  country  estate  brings  with  it.  Her  short  distance 
from  us  (four  miles)  makes  it  possible  that  we  see  her  often.  This  now  is  a  favor  of  fortune  for 
which,  at  my  age  of  seventy-six  years,  I  cannot  thank  God  enough.  The  coming  May  I  celebrate 
my  fifty  years'  jubilee  as  Doctor  Medicus.  Should  I  live  beyond  that,  it  is  my  thought  to  retire  to 
private  life  then,  and  to  revise  and  arrange  my  Memorabilia. 

"So  much  about  us,  who  wish  you  the  best  fortune  for  your  journey,  and  with  the  heartiest 
greeting  commend  ourselves  to  your  future  remembrance. 

"  In  true  friendship. 

Your  respectful  Colleague,  Dr.  Martini. 

"  My  wife  desires  the  warmest  regards." 

This  touch  of  German  sentiment  indicates  the  affection  which  the  kind-hearted  American  tourist 
inspired  wherever  he  went.  He  was  as  welcome  to  the  German  alienists  as  to  the  English  Quakers 
and  the  people  of  Southern  Europe. 


174  THE    BABEL-TOWER    OF    VIENNA 

to  the  special  restraint  of  the  dangerous  insane.  The  Vienna 
tower  was  five  stories  high,  cylindrical,  but  enclosing  a  central 
area,  and  containing  twenty-eight  rooms  on  each  floor,  except 
the  lower  one,  which  had  twenty-seven.  The  rooms  for  the 
insane  were  along  the  external  wall,  entered  through  a  keeper's 
room,  which  was  the  only  one  on  each  floor  that  opened  on  the 
stair-landing.  The  rooms  were  large ;  and  many  of  them  had 
rings  and  staples,  as  in  the  old  prisons,  for  chaining  the  inmates. 
In  these  139  tower-rooms  were  formerly  kept  more  than  200 
insane  persons  ;  and,  as  described  by  an  English  visitor  in  1843, 
it  resembled  the  ancient  bedlam  more  than  the  modern  asylum. 
He  portrayed  it  as 

A  wretched,  filthy  prison,  close  and  ill-ventilated,  its  smell  over- 
powering, and  the  sight  of  its  patients  —  frantic,  chained,  and  many 
of  them  naked  —  disgusting  to  the  visitor.  ...  A  crowd  of  country- 
folk, many  of  them  women,  were  conducted  through  the  corridors 
along  with  me,  as  a  mere  matter  of  curiosity,  or  as  one  would  go  to 
see  a  collection  of  wild  beasts. 

Some  such  spectacle  was  that  seen  by  Dr.  Earle  at  Con- 
stantinople, ten  years  before ;  but,  when  he  reached  Vienna, 
this  state  of  things  had  ceased.  Other  buildings  had  been 
used  for  the  overflow  of  patients;  and,  though  the  faults  of  con- 
struction in  the  old  tower  were  evident,  something  had  been 
done  to  correct  them. 

The  apartments  were  decently  clean,  most  of  them  commendably 
so  ;  and  the  patients  were  neither  ragged,  filthy,  nor  in  chains.  In 
the  upper  stories  partitions  had  been  removed,  so  as  to  unite  several 
rooms  in  one,  for  associated  dormitories.  There  was  a  workshop  for 
making  chair-seats  and  straw  mats,  and  another  for  paper  or  paste- 
board boxes,  a  large  assortment  of  these  being  ready  for  market. 
But  many  defects  still  existed.  At  dinner  time  no  table  was  spread, 
for  the  very  good  reason  that  there  was  none  to  spread,  and  no  room 
for  one  large  enough.  The  food  was  brought  into  the  corridor  and 
distributed.  Each  patient  then  made  himself  as  comfortable  as  he 
could,  standing,  sitting,  or  lying,  with  his  dish  in  his  hand,  in  his  lap, 
or  on  the  floor. 


1849-1853  175 

To  this  description  Dr.  Earle  adds  that  Dr.  Viszanik  reported 
the  most  brilliant  results  from  trying  the  cold-water  cure  on  his 
patients  since  1841,  "one-third  of  the  patients  having  been 
treated  with  no  other  medication  than  cold  water,  even  in  the 
most  difficult  and  compHcated  cases."  As  there  were  360 
patients  in  1849,  ^^^  nearly  500  in  course  of  a  year,  this  must 
have  meant  that  150  a  year  had  been  treated  by  hydropathy, 
then  in  its  greatest  favor;  and  Dr.  Viszanik  boasted  as  many 
cures  as  other  superintendents.  Indeed,  the  statistics  of  the 
Narrenthurm  for  sixty  years  seemed  to  show  as  many  recover- 
ies as  have  been  made  in  much  better  surroundings.  Thus 
from  1784  to  1843,  14,761  cases  were  admitted,  more  than 
13,000  of  them  in  this  Babel-tower,  as  Dr.  Earle  styles  it;  and 
the  number  of  cures  was  reported  as  6,949,  nearly  one-half  of 
all  the  cases,  while  only  3,468  had  died.  In  the  rooms  of  the 
Vienna  General  Hospital,  where,  since  1828,  1,485  insane  per- 
sons were  registered  (included  in  the  total  count  above),  a 
still  more  gratifying  recovery  rate  was  reported;  for  1,058,  or 
71  per  cent.,  had  recovered  in  fifteen  years,  and  only  142,  or 
less  than  10  per  cent.,  had  died.  Unfortunately,  Dr.  Earle 
adds  in  a  note,  "  Dr.  Flemming  asserts  that  the  great  number 
of  cures  chiefly  arose  from  the  fact  that  all  cases  of  delirium 
tremens  and  many  of  febrile  delirium  admitted  into  the  Gen- 
eral Hospital  were  immediately  transferred  to  the  insane 
asylum."  Upon  these  a  cold-water  treatment  would  naturally 
produce  a  speedy  cure.* 

The  population  of  Vienna  in  1849  was  422,000.  In  1893, 
when  I  visited  its  insane  asylums,  there  were  more  than  850,000  ; 
that  is,  the  inhabitants  had  doubled  in  forty-four  years.  But 
there  was  a  still  greater  change  in  the  insane  enumeration. 
Dr.  Viszanik  then  received  some  500  new  admissions  a  year, 
and  closed  the  year  with  about  350  patients.  His  successors 
began  the  year  1892  with  nearly  900  patients,  received  during 
the  year  more  than  1,000,  and  among  all  these  cases  made  but 
300  recoveries,  with  more  than  200  deaths.  That  is,  the 
recovery  rate  had  fallen  from  48  per  cent,  to  about  16 ;  while 

*  Dr.  Earle  had  information  similar  to  this  from  one  of  the  successors  of  an  American  superintend  - 
ent,  who  had  this  same  suspicious  abundance  of  recoveries  in  a  hospital  serving  a  great  city, —  delirium 
tremens  figuring  in  hundreds  of  his  cases  entered  as  "  insane." 


176  AUSTRIAN    ASYLUMS 

the  death-rate,  computed  on  the  whole  number,  was  less  than 
10  per  cent.  From  1784  to  1843,  according  to  the  figures, 
the  death-rate,  reckoned  in  the  same  way,  exceeded  20  percent. 
The  Narrenthurm  had  long  since  disappeared  or  been  con- 
verted to  better  uses ;  and  the  halls  of  the  present  asylum, 
though  overcrowded,  like  most  of  the  Viennese  charities,  have 
witnessed  some  of  the  most  skilful  scientific  treatment  of 
insanity,  and  the  most  enlightened  clinical  exposition  of  its 
nature  and  varieties.  As  the  recovery  rate  has  fallen  in  about 
the  same  ratio  that  scientific  knowledge  of  the  malady  has 
risen,  we  must  suppose  that  much  formerly  deemed  cure  was 
fallacious,  and  either  wholly  imaginary  or  followed  by  speedy 
relapses. 

Dr.  Riedel,  of  Prague,  who  soon  took  charge  of  the  newer 
asylum  at  Vienna  (about  1852),  was  not  visited  in  his  Bohemian 
asylum  by  Dr.  Earle,  who  reported  it  favorably  by  the  testimony 
of  others.  But  he  went  on  from  Vienna  to  the  Tyrol,  and 
there,  near  Innspruck,  was  received  at  Hall  by  Dr.  Tschallener, 
who  had  been  director  of  a  small  Tyrolese  asylum  in  a  disused 
monastery  for  fifteen  years.  Hall  is  six  miles  below  Innspruck, 
on  the  river  Inn ;  and  the  asylum  was  on  the  foot-hills  of  the 
Salzberg  Alps,  7,000  feet  in  height.  It  overlooked  from  its 
lower  elevation  "fertile  meadows  luxuriant  with  grain,  grass, 
and  Indian  corn,  and  interspersed  with  peasant  houses  of  a 
Swiss-like  architecture,  which  add  a  charm  of  novelty,  with  a 
tincture  of  romance,  to  the  scene."  The  valley  is  indeed  an 
extension  of  Switzerland. 

Hall  itself  is  a  small  city,  not  much  larger  than  Concord  in 
Massachusetts ;  and  the  whole  of  Austrian  Tyrol  has  less  than 
900,000  inhabitants, —  served  in  1849-50  by  two  small  asylums 
for  the  insane,  that  in  Hall  containing  100,  and  that  in  Trient, 
near  Italy,  less  than  50.  Thus  a  population  larger  than  that  of 
New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  had  less  than  150  insane  in 
asylums  ;  while  those  two  New  England  States  at  the  same 
date  (having  then  600,000  people)  had  more  than  400  insane  in 
their  two  asylums.  Indeed,  Dr.  Tschallener  had  treated  in  his 
asylum  in  fifteen  years  less  than  400  patients,  or  no  more  than 
Dr.  Rockwell  at  Brattleboro,  Vt.,  was  then  treating  in  a  single 


1849-1853  177 

year.  His  cures  in  that  time  among  the  Tyrolese  were  about 
130,  while  the  deaths  exceeded  60.  In  this  small  asylum  there 
were  schools  for  the  patients  and  pecuniary  rewards  for  labor 
done  by  them.  Suicides  were  treated  in  a  peculiar  manner  :  a 
large  sack  containing  the  patient  who  was  suicidal  was  hoisted , 
nearly  to  the  ceiling,  so  that  he  could  neither  escape  nor  do 
himself  harm.  The  director  gave  this  account  of  his  discipline  : 
"To  the  good-humored  patients  I  am  good-humored,  to  the 
rude  unceremonious,  to  the  proud  haughty,  to  the  submissive 
affable,  to  the  peaceable  yielding,  to  the  quarrelsome  repellent, 
and  to  the  well-mannered  indulgent.  Of  the  simple  I  am 
watchful,  and  of  the  crafty  cautious.  He  who  does  not  obey 
voluntarily  must  be  made  to  obey."     Dr.  Earle  adds  :  — 

With  the  disobedient  he  is  patient  and  long-suffering ;  but  he 
assumes  that,  with  rare  exceptions,  the  insane  can  behave  properly 
if  they  will.  Obedience  granted,  he  then  spares  no  trouble  in  minis- 
tering to  their  enjoyment.  He  grants  all  appropriate  privileges, 
assists  in  their  instruction,  accompanies  them  to  parties,  gives  musi- 
cal soirees  for  them  in  his  own  apartments,  and  encourages  them  in 
labor  by  pecuniary  recompense.  Some  patients  have  gone  away 
with  as  much  as  $15  thus  acquired. 

At  Hall  Dr.  Earle  saw  the  German  Zwangstuhl,  or  "  tran- 
quillizing chair";  and,  returning  northward  to  Munich,  he 
found  a  still  worse  form  of  this  instrument  of  torture  in  use  at 
Giesing,  the  city  asylum  of  Munich,  with  but  40  patients,  the 
whole  number  in  all  the  asylums  of  Bavaria  being  then  some 
700.  The  population  of  the  kingdom  was  about  4,500,000.  It 
is  now  6,000,000 ;  and  Munich  has  grown  into  a  large  city,  with 
a  much  larger  asylum,  built  in  1859,  and  containing,  when  I 
visited  it  in  1893,  600  patients,  ox  fifteen  times  as  many  as  Dr. 
Earle  found  there.  Only  some  350  of  them,  however,  belonged 
to  the  city  of  Munich,  which  then  contained  260,000  people  as 
against  100,000  in  1850.  There  are  now  ten  public  asylums  in 
Bavaria  and  several  private  ones,  the  whole  number  of  patients 
in  them  now  exceeding  5,000,  of  which  number  more  than 
1,000  are  in  Upper   Bavaria,  with  its   two  public   asylums  of 


lyS  RESTRAINT    AND    PARESIS    IN    GERMAN    ASYLUMS 

Munich  and  Gabersee.    But  to  return  to  Dr.  Earle.    Of  Giesing 
he  says  :  — 

The  implements  of  restraint  for  Munich  are  the  strait-jacket 
and  the  chair.  It  is  of  strong  plank,  put  together  in  the  simplest 
possible  form.  The  sides  project  farther  forward  than  the  patient's 
body,  when  seated ;  and,  from  the  knees  downward,  they  extend  be- 
yond the  feet.  Being  seated,  a  door  is  closed  in  front  of  his  feet 
and  legs,  a  lid  closed  over  the  thighs,  and  a  board,  fitted  into  grooves, 
is  slipped  down  in  front  of  the  head  and  body,  the  head  alone  being 
visible  to  the  bystander.  To  complete  his  felicity,  two  blocks  of 
strong  wood  project  over  his  shoulders,  and  prevent  any  attempt  to 
rise.  I  have  seen  the  insane  of  the  Timar-hane  at  Constantinople 
in  chains,  and  I  have  seen  patients  in  various  countries  confined  in 
the  "  tranquillizing  chair  "  ;  and  I  assert  that,  so  far  as  restraint  is 
concerned,  the  condition  of  the  Turks  was  the  most  comfortable,  or, 
rather,  the  least  fearful,  the  most  desirable. 

Time,  which  has  so  much  multiplied  the  poor  insane  of 
Munich,  has  long  since  relieved  them  of  the  tortures  of  this 
detestable  chair ;  and  I  found  the  condition  of  the  600  patients 
at  Munich's  Kreis-Irren-Anstalt  fairly  good  in  May,  1893. 
A  much  better  asylum  was  that  of  Gabersee,  in  the  Bavarian 
Oberland,  some  sixty  miles  north-east  of  Munich,  vi^ith  300 
patients  in  detached  houses, —  something  after  the  plan  of 
Alt-Scherbitz  in  Saxony.  But  one  painful  circumstance  should 
be  mentioned  at  the  Munich  asylum, —  its  enormous  number  of 
paretics.  When  Dr.  Earle  was  in  Germany,  general  paralysis 
was  a  new  disease  in  America,  and  almost  unknown  in  Ireland 
and  other  rural  regions.  As  he  went  from  asylum  to  asylum, 
he  usually  asked  if  any  paretics  had  been  treated  there,  and  if 
any  recovered.  The  answers  were  various,  but  the  whole  num- 
ber of  cases  was  small  in  all  Germany.  But  the  intelligent 
young  assistant  physician  who  escorted  me  through  the  long 
corridors  at  Munich  told  me  that,  of  his  600  patients,  150,  or  a 
fourth,  were  paretics  (120  men  and  30  women) ;  and,  of  the  270 
patients  admitted  the  year  before,  61,  or  more  than  20  per  cent., 
were  paretics.  I  do  not  recall  so  large  a  proportion  anywhere 
else. 


1S49-1853  179 

Dr.  Earle's  latest  visits  were  made  to  Winnenthal,  near 
Stuttgard,  Illenau  (already  described),  and  Stephansfeld,  in 
Alsace,  near  Strasbourg, —  the  last  named  not  in  Germany  in 
1849,  t)ut  added  by  reconquest  in  1870.  At  Winnenthal  he 
met  Dr.  Zeller,  from  whom  he  quotes  freely,  and  saw  less 
restraint  there  than  in  any  German  asylum.  It  was  then 
a  small  establishment,  with  but  few  more  than  100  inmates ; 
and  its  system  of  labor  and  amusement  was  very  similar  to  that 
elsewhere,  with  larger  numbers.  At  Stephansfeld,  however,  as 
at  Sonnenstein,  Dr.  Earle  allows  himself  the  luxury  of  praising 
what  he  sees.  It  was  a  large  asylum,  comparatively,  for  there 
were  377  patients ;  and  its  industries  were  well  organized. 
Several  of  its  peculiarities  were  striking  at  that  time,  and  he 
says  :  — 

A  remarkable  feature  is  that  none  of  the  windows,  except  in  the 
small  department  for  the  furious  (and  there  they  are  not  glazed),  are 
in  any  way  protected  internally  or  externally.  They  differ  from  the 
ordinary  French  window  only  in  having  the  turn-latch,  when  closed, 
moved  by  a  tube-key  carried  by  the  attendant,  and  that  a  few  of  the 
sashes  are  iron.  Of  more  than  fifty  public  institutions  for  the  insane 
which  I  have  visited,  no  other  is  so  exempt  from  what  is  generally 
considered  necessary. 

Further  on  he  says  :  — 

Manual  labor  has  here  a  development  surpassing  anything  of  the 
kind  known.  Besides  the  numerous  workshops  where  the  patients 
can  be  useful,  and  exercise  the  trades  of  cabinet-making,  shoemaking, 
weaving,  painting,  trough-making,  coopering,  book-binding,  etc.,  the 
farm  has  been  extended  by  bringing  a  hundred  acres  of  land  under 
cultivation.*  The  asylum  bears  the  aspect  of  a  farm  colony  rather 
than  a  hospital,  the  women  even  being  at  work  weeding  the  fields,  as 
well  as  spinning,  sewing,  laundry  work,  etc.  The  number  of  patients 
daily  employed  generally  exceeds  180,  or  almost  half  the  total  num- 
ber.    A  daily  record  of  this  labor  has  been  kept  for  years,  and  in 

*Dr.  Paetz,  in  his  volume  of  1893,  already  cited,  says  that  in  1878  the  Stephansfeld  asylum,  hav- 
ing added  a  department  at  Hoerdt,  extended  still  farther  the  open-door  and  colony  system,  thus  indi- 
cating that  the  essential  character  of  the  establishment  remained  unchanged  by  the  German  occupation 
of  Alsace  in  1870.  Indeed,  this  was  from  the  first  of  a  German  rather  than  a  French  nature;  for  the 
improvements  specified  began  in  Germany. 


l8o  GERMAN    ASYLUMS,  PAST    AND    PRESENT 

1844  the  money  payments  to  patients  for  work  were  nearly  8,000 
francs  ($1,600).  A  portion  of  this  is  given  to  them,  the  rest  reserved 
till  they  recover  or  are  otherwise  discharged.  Since  1842  schools 
are  established  for  men  and  for  women,  the  latter  under  a  Sister  of 
Charity.  The  number  of  patients  in  both  is  sometimes  almost  100, 
or  a  fourth  of  the  population.  Their  tranquillity,  diligence,  and 
good  behavior  in  the  schools  is  praised  by  Dr.  Roederer,  the  director. 
They  are  taught  the  common  branches,  and  also  history,  translation, 
drawing,  and  music.  Five  years  ago  (May  i,  1844)  220  patients,  or 
more  than  two-thirds  of  all,  made  an  excursion  to  a  neighboring 
wood,  lasting  more  than  three  hours,  in  great  order  and  quiet. 

Although  he  visited  but  17  German  asylums  in  1849,  Dr. 
Earle  briefly  described  in  his  book  39  more,  making  up  his 
account  of  them  from  their  reports,  from  German  volumes,  and 
from  articles  in  the  German  Zeitschrift  filr  PsycJiiatrie  and 
the  French  Annates  Medico-Psychologiqnes.  He  also  gave 
a  general  historical  sketch  of  the  German  asylums,  and  quoted 
freely  from  the  writings  of  eminent  German  alienists.  Hardly 
had  his  book  come  out,  in  1853,  when  he  received  a  work  of 
Dr.  Heinrich  Laehr,  one  of  Dr.  Damerow's  assistants,  in  which 
a  list  was  given  of  all  the  German  asylums  in  1852  to  the  num- 
ber of  91  public  asylums  and  20  private  ones.  This  list  Dr. 
Earle  inserted  in  his  volume  at  the  end.  It  is  incorrect  in 
some  particulars  and  defective  in  others,  but  was  then  by  far 
the  fullest  statistical  account  of  the  German  asylums  which  had 
appeared  in  America.  Dr.  Laehr  republished  his  list  in  1891, 
bringing  it  down  to  include  the  year  1890;  and  at  that  time 
the  German  asylums  had  increased  to  222, —  most  of  them 
much  larger  than  in  1852, —  and  contained  56,234  patients, —  an 
average  of  253  in  each.  In  1852  the  whole  number  of  patients 
in  III  asylums  was  about  11,000, —  an  average  in  each  of  less 
than  100.  The  Austrian  asylums  were  included  in  Laehr's 
first  list,  and  perhaps  in  that  of  1891  ;  but  in  Austria  alone 
there  are  more  asylum  inmates  now  than  were  found  in  all  the 
German-speaking  countries  in  1852, —  that  is,  more  than  12,000. 
This  may  serve  to  show  how  insanity  has  been  increasing  in 
the  regions  visited  by  Dr.  Earle  —  as  in  all  civilized  countries  — 


1849-1853  i8i 

far  beyond  the  gain  in  population,  which  has  also  been  con- 
siderable, especially  in  the  German  Empire  of  to-day. 

Dr.  Earle  did  not  enter  Hungary  in  1849,  for  it  was  still  in  a 
state  of  war;  but  it  then  had  few  asylums.  In  May,  1893,  I 
visited  the  largest  of  the  Hungarian  asylums,  at  the  old  capital 
of  Buda,  across  the  Danube  from  Pesth,  which  now,  united 
with  Buda  under  the  joint  name  of  Buda-Pesth,  is  the  capital  of 
the  Austrian  emperor's  kingdom  of  Hungary.  The  Buda-Pesth 
asylum  was  opened  in  1850,  at  the  close  of  the  civil  war.  It 
stands  on  a  high  hill,  far  above  the  old  fortress-ridge  of  Buda, 
beside  the  Danube,  and  is  surrounded  by  pleasant  hills  and 
valleys,  which  on  the  nth  of  May,  the  date  of  my  visit,  were 
blooming  with  spring  flowers  or  covered  with  verdant  trees  and 
shrubs.  The  farm  is  large  and  well  cultivated  by  the  labor  of 
the  patients,  who  then  numbered  800,  including  50  of  the 
criminal  insane  sent  there  for  treatment.  The  director  was 
Dr.  Niedermann,  first  appointed  in  1870,  with  seven  medical 
assistants,  giving  one  medical  officer  for  every  hundred  pa- 
tients. The  inmates  were  equally  divided  as  to  sex;  but  the 
old  building  was  crowded  and  architecturally  faulty,  so  that  a 
new  asylum  for  the  more  violent  cases  —  here  quite  numerous  — 
was  then  building  elsewhere.  The  asylum  is  intended  for  the 
whole  Comitat  of  Buda,  including  the  city  of  Pesth  and  much 
surrounding  country.  There  is  another  Hungarian  asylum  at 
Presbourg,  where  in  1893  abuses  had  been  discovered  and  were 
under  investigation,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  a  patient  in 
his  bath. 

In  accord  with  the  practice  of  Dr.  Earle,  I  inquired  of  Dr. 
Niedermann  the  number  of  his  paretic  cases,  and  was  rather 
surprised  at  his  answers.  He  then  had  176  such  cases  among 
his  800  patients,  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  whole  count.  Of 
these,  160  were  men  and  16  women, —  a  fact  which  perhaps  ac- 
counts for  the  excess  of  deaths  over  recoveries  in  a  year, —  130 
recoveries  and  200  deaths.  Reminding  Dr.  Niedermann  that 
his  Austrian  and  German  colleagues  were  inclined  to  attribute 
general  paralysis  in  all  cases  to  syphilis,  I  was  told  by  him  that 
such  a  theory  was  baseless,  that  in  his  asylum  not  half  the  pare- 
tic cases  could  be  ascribed  to  that  cause,  even  as  co-operative. 


l82  INSANITY    IN    HUNGARY    AND    GERMANY 

As  the  reports  of  his  institution  are  only  printed  in  Hungarian 
(not  in  German,  as  formerly),  I  could  not  review  his  statistics 
historically;  but  he  must  have  been  receiving  some  400  pa- 
tients annually,  and  the  increase  of  insanity  in  Hungary,  with 
its  population  of  16,000,000,  must  be  nearly  as  fast  as  in  the 
German  parts  of  the  Austrian  Empire,  though  perhaps  not  so 
fast  as  among  the  Bohemians. 

It  is  evident  that  between  1838,  when  Dr.  Earle  inspected 
some  of  the  English,  French,  Dutch,  and  Italian  asylums,  and 
1849,  when  he  made  his  careful  study  of  those  in  Germany  and 
Austria,  his  faith  in  the  "cures  "  of  the  insane  reported  by  his 
professional  brethren  had  lessened  perceptibly ;  and  the  care- 
ful statistics  of  Dr.  Jacobi,  at  Siegburg,  must  have  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  this  scepticism,  which  later  developed  into 
a  complete  disbelief  of  the  much-paraded  figures  of  American 
asylums.  Of  the  661  patients  reported  cured  at  Siegburg 
from  1825  to  1845  (nearly  half  of  the  whole  number),  322  had 
not  relapsed  in  the  twenty  years,  and  were  still  living;  but 
259  had  relapsed,  several  more  than  once,  and  only  68  had  died 
without  a  relapse.  As  the  number  who  had  died  in  a  relapse 
was  almost  as  many  (57),  it  was  plain  to  Dr.  Earle  that  the 
state  of  "cure"  was  a  very  unstable  one;  and  the  subsequent 
researches  of  many  experts  have  confirmed  this  view.  But, 
when  he  visited  the  Utrecht  asylum  in  Holland  (July,  1838), 
then  under  the  visitation  of  Van  der  Kolk,  the  Dutch  reformer 
of  asylums,  he  was  quite  ready  to  accept  the  estimate  of  its 
physician,  that  40  per  cent,  of  the  admissions  recovered.  It 
was  small  (94  inmates  in  1838),  and  had  not  much  enlarged 
fifteen  years  later,  when  Dr.  Earle's  friend.  Dr.  Hack  Tuke, 
inspected  it,  while  on  his  wedding  tour,  in  the  autumn  of  1853  ; 
for  he  found  but  127  inmates.  In  reporting  its  statistics  then, 
Dr.  Tuke  observed  (after  quoting  the  40  per  cent,  of  recov- 
eries before  1838),  "It  is  singular  that  from  1844  to  185 1  the 
proportion  of  cures  to  admissions  is  considerably  less  than 
from  1832  to  1837  inclusive."  In  fact,  the  percentage  had 
fallen  to  30,  and  no  doubt  has  grown  smaller  since.* 

•  See  a  rare  pamphlet,  "  The  Asylums  of  Holland,  their  Past  and  Present  Condition.     By  Daniel 
H.  Tuke,  M.D.     From  the  Psyckologicaljo7trnat,  July  i,  1854."     When   I  last  saw  Dr.  Tuke,  in 


1849-1853  i83 

The  great  question  of  separation  between  the  curable  and  in- 
curable insane  naturally  springs  from  a  discovery  of  the  fact 
(which  Dr.  Earle  seems  to  have  fully  learned  only  in  Germany) 
that  less  than  half  the  insane  can  be  cured,  so  as  to  remain 
well,  and  that,  consequently,  the  uncured,  and  practically  in- 
curable, will  accumulate  in  asylums  to  the  detriment  of  the 
curable.  Hence,  as  the  result  of  all  his  observations.  Dr.  Earle 
said  in  this  volume  of  1853,  what  he  afterwards  repeated,  that 
the  true  method  for  hospitals,  such  as  we  were  then  beginning 
to  have  in  America,  as  distinguished  from  mere  asylums,  is 
this :  — 

Let  no  institution  have  more  than  200  patients,  and  let  all  receive 
both  curables  and  incurables,  in  the  natural  proportion  for  the  ad- 
mission of  the  two  classes,  from  the  respective  districts  in  which  they 
are  located. 

From  this  position  he  never  varied,  and  only  yielded  to  a 
supposed  necessity  in  allowing  that  larger  hospitals  might  serve 
some  useful  purpose  ;  but,  of  course,  he  foresaw  that  what  he  had 
witnessed  in  Siegburg  and  other  curative  establishments  in  Ger- 
many would  sooner  or  later  occur  in  the  American  hospitals, — 
that  is,  that  the  uncured  would  accumulate,  and  must  either 
be  sent  to  another  place  or  allowed  to  hamper  the  proper  work 
of  a  hospital.  He  therefore  summarized  the  argument  of  Dr. 
Zeller,  of  Winnenthal,  in  favor  of  separate  asylums  for  the  older 
incurables  ;  and  this  is  one  of  the  most  instructive  parts  of  the 
volume.     He  says  :  — 

It  is  true  that  two  separate  establishments  are  more  expensive  than 
one  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  same  number  of  patients ;  but 
this  cost,  being  subordinate  to  the  welfare  of  the  insane,  should  be 
overlooked,  since  the  advantages  of  institutions  independent  of  each 
other  are  more  than  sufficient  to  counterbalance  the  extra  expense. 

July,  1893,  he  lent  me  this  brochure,  saying  it  was  his  only  loose  copy,  and  he  might  wish  to  reclaim 
it.  In  case  he  did  not,  I  was  to  keep  it.  He  also  then  informed  me  it  was  the  result  of  observa- 
tions made  in  Holland  when  on  his  bridal  journey.  I  had  just  come  from  the  great  asylum  of  Meer- 
emberg,  which  had  grown  from  the  400  inmates  whom  he  found  there  forty  years  before  to  the  1,300 
seen  by  me ;  and  he  was  much  interested  in  my  account  of  the  improvements  there,  the  latest  being 
the  care  of  the  male  patients  by  women  nurses,  under  the  oversight  of  Mrs.  Van  Deventer,  the  able 
wife  of  the  director,  Dr.  Van  Deventer.  As  Dr.  Tuke  died  without  reclaiming  his  pamphlet,  I  keep 
it  among  my  valuable  possessions. 


184  THE    STUDY    OF    INSANITY    IN    AMERICA 

The  spheres  of  the  two  institutions  (asylum  and  hospital)  are  very- 
different.  They  are  specialties,  and  can  be  better  conducted  by  two 
persons  than  one.  The  accumulation  of  many  insane  in  one  estab- 
lishment, or  in  the  same  vicinity,  has  an  unfavorable  influence.  In 
asylums  for  the  incurable,  various  handicrafts  may  be  regularly  and 
systematically  pursued.  These  cannot  be  prosecuted  among  curables, 
because,  almost  as  soon  as  the  patients  begin  to  work,  they  are 
discharged.  The  sight  of  so  many  incurables  would  act  unfavorably 
upon  the  curable  patients.  With  a  patient  who,  after  long  residence 
in  one  establishment,  has  been  pronounced  incurable,  a  change  of 
scene  by  his  removal  to  another,  the  placing  of  him  under  care  of 
another  physician,  and  all  the  new  relations,  etc.,  will  be  the  most 
likely,  of  all  possible  means,  to  effect  a  cure.  If  the  two  institutions 
be  separate,  many  will  be  taken  from  their  homes  to  the  curative 
hospital  who  might  otherwise  go  to  the  asylum  for  incurables. 

Another  point  in  which  Dr.  Earle  learned  much,  and  sought 
to  improve  his  countrymen  by  imparting  what  he  had  learned, 
regards  the  instruction  of  medical  students  in  mental  disorders. 
Here  he  was  very  clear  and  emphatic ;  yet,  after  the  lapse  of 
nearly  fifty  years,  we  are  still  as  far  from  perfection  (to  use  his 
own  phrase)  as  the  Germans  were  in  1849.  They  were  then, 
as  they  are  now,  far  in  advance  of  us  and  of  most  nations  in 
this  matter.     Dr.  Earle  said  :  — 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  not  one  in  forty  of  the  graduates  of  our 
medical  schools  has  ever  read  a  treatise  upon  diseases  of  the  mind. 
The  subject  of  insanity  does  not  enter  into  the  programme  of 
lectures  in  any  of  our  leading  medical  schools.  In  Germany  it  has 
long  been  otherwise.  Reil,  so  long  ago  as  1803,  advised  that  suit- 
able persons  should  be  selected  from  the  medical  students  and  placed 
in  the  asylums,  where,  while  learning  the  peculiar  art,  they  might 
assist  in  treating  the  patients.  Dr.  Roller  proposes  to  take  six 
physicians,  immediately  after  they  have  completed  their  other  medical 
studies,  into  the  Illenau  asylum  as  internes,  and,  after  they  have  re- 
mained a  certain  time,  exchange  them  for  six  more,  until  all  the 
medical  graduates  in  Baden  shall  have  had  this  opportunity.  A 
similar  practice  is  pursued  at  the  Charity  Hospital  in  Berlin.  A 
professorship  of    "  psychiatry "    (the    first)  was    established    in    the 


1849-1853  i85 

University  of  Leipzig  in  181 1,  and  long  filled  by  Heinroth.  Others 
have  since  been  founded,  and  clinical  instruction  is  given  at  Berlin 
by  Dr.  Ideler,  at  Prague  by  Dr.  Riedel,  now  at  Vienna,  and  by 
Damerow  at  Halle,  and  others. 

It  is  only  within  the  last  few  years,  and  by  no  means  univer- 
sally, that  the  American  medical  schools  have  followed  the 
example  of  these  German  leaders  in  teaching  the  treatment  of 
insanity  to  medical  students.  A  singular  indifference,  even 
aversion,  exists  in  some  learned  minds  still  to  taking  the  need- 
ful means  for  giving  this  indispensable  instruction.  In  the 
year  1879,  when  the  late  Governor  Talbot  of  Massachusetts 
signalized  his  single  year  of  State  administration  by  securing 
more  reforms  in  the  charitable  establishments  than  have  been 
carried  in  any  three  years  before  or  since,  I  had  occasion  to 
call  on  the  late  Dr.  O.  W.  Holmes,  medical  lecturer  and  poet, 
to  consult  him  about  the  feasibility  of  instructing  his  medical 
students  at  the  Harvard  School  in  Boston  in  mental  maladies, 
and  particularly  as  to  clinical  lectures  in  some  insane  hospital 
in  or  near  Boston.  Dr.  Holmes  was  genial  and  witty,  as  always, 
—  agreed  that  instruction  was  much  needed,  and  wished  it  might 
be  given, —  but  had  nothing  special  to  suggest  by  which  it  could 
be  bettered.  When  I  suggested  clinical  lectures,  he  demurred  : 
they  might  be  indispensable,  but  think  of  the  effect  on  the 
patients  !  and  he  quoted  Martial's  epigram, — 

Languebam ;  sed  tu  comitatus  protinus  ad  me 

Venisti  centum,  Symmache,  discipulis  ; 
Centum  me  tetigere  manus,  Aquilone  gelatae. 

Non  habui  febrem,  Symmache  :    nunc  habeo. 

I  ailed  :    'twas  naught ;    but,  Doctor,  yoti  came  at  me, 
A  hundred  students  clattering  in  your  train ; 

A  hundred  hands,  colder  than  ice,  did  pat  me. 
I  had  no  fever :    now  I  feel  its  pain. 

He  left  me  to  draw  my  own  inference,  after  making  my  own 
translation,  which  I  have  done  above. 

Nor  has  instruction  in  mental  maladies  yet  been  better 
organized  anywhere  in  Massachusetts  than  in  the  comparatively 


l86  THE    STUDY    OF    INSANITY    IN    AMERICA 

recent  Homoeopathic  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Westboro, 
thirty-three  miles  from  Boston,  to  which  a  class  of  students 
make  the  long  journey  weekly  in  the  winter  months  ;  unless 
it  be  in  the  old  and  wealthy  Worcester  Hospital,  where  for 
medical  graduates,  four  in  number,  clinical  and  class  instruction 
as  internes  is  given  by  an  accomplished  Swiss  alienist,  Dr. 
Adolf  Meyer.  This  is  carrying  out  on  a  smaller  scale  what 
Dr.  Roller  planned  for  the  duchy  of  Baden  so  many  years 
ago. 

Dr.  Earle's  account  of  the  German  asylums,  after  appearing 
serially  in  the  American  Journal  of  Insanity  at  Utica,  N.Y. 
(which  he  aided  in  founding),  had  some  circulation  as  a  separate 
work ;  but  it  was  not  widely  read,  and  probably  brought  the 
author  more  renown  in  Europe  than  at  home.  It  was  in 
advance  of  the  times  ;  and  the  paradox  was  seen,  as  so  often 
before  and  since,  of  the  physician  best  fitted  to  carry  on  a 
hospital  for  the  insane,  unable  to  obtain  preferment  in  his  own 
land,  before  younger  and  less  gifted  but  more  pushing  men, 
to  whose  unscientific  direction  many  of  the  new  and  costly 
American  asylums  fell,  in  the  decade  following  Dr.  Earle's 
return  from  his  second  European  tour. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


BIDING    HIS    TIME. 


On  the  day  that  Dr.  Earle  landed  in  New  York  from  his 
German  tour,  his  mother  died  at  the  old  home  at  Leicester, 
where  the  settlement  of  the  family  estate  and  other  matters 
detained  him  until  the  latter  part  of  1852, —  not  always  in  the 
firmest  health,  but  performing  much  intellectual  labor  in  his 
chosen  field.  He  had  begun  for  the  American  Journal  of  the 
Medical  Sciences,  in  1842,  a  series  of  short  reviews  of  the  annual 
reports  of  institutions  for  the  insane,  at  home  and  abroad, 
which  came  to  him  in  great  number  and  sometimes  found  in 
him  almost  their  only  intelligent  reader.  He  continued  this 
useful  work  during  his  whole  retirement  at  Leicester,  both  from 
1849  to  1852,  and  again  from  1854  to  1864, — varying  this  rural 
retirement  with  excursions  to  Providence,  Washington,  Caro- 
lina, Cuba,  etc.,  as  he  had  occasion.  It  was  probably  the  study 
of  the  irregular  and  often  absurd  statistical  array  of  figures  and 
percentages  in  these  reports  that  convinced  him  how  fruitless 
the  existing  methods  of  statistical  showing  for  insanity  then 
were;  and,  in  particular,  how  far  they  were  from  indicating  the 
real  facts  concerning  the  curability  of  the  wide-spread  and  fast- 
increasing  disease,  which  he  had  so  long  been  examining,  both 
in  detached  cases  and  in  the  general  aggregates  of  asylums, 
States,  and  races.  All  this  was  preparation  for  his  discovery 
and  demonstration  of  the  true  ratio  of  curability,  and  also  for 
his  quarter-century  of  active  asylum  work  at  Northampton. 
But  it  was  weary  waiting  in  some  of  these  inactive  years  before 
1864 ;  and  Dr.  Earle  bided  his  time  with  some  impatience  and 
not  without  days  and  months  of  despondency.  He  lived  at 
Leicester,  in  a  small  house,  with  no  display,  and  amid  humble 
duties  of  one  sort  or  another.  His  age  was  greater  than  that  of 
Montaigne  when  that  Gascon  sage  retired  to  his  chateau  to 
spend  a  calm  life  among  his  books  ;  nor  was  he  so  resigned  to 


l88  DR.    EARLE    UNEMPLOYED 

quiet  and  solitude  as  Montaigne,  who  had,  for  all  that,  as 
great  a  love  for  travel  and  observation  as  Dr.  Earle,  though  he 
never  journeyed  so  far.  When  he  came  out  from  this  retire- 
ment at  the  end  of  1852,  he  returned  to  New  York,  opened  an 
office  there  for  consultation,  and  soon  became  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Visiting  Physicians  to  the  City  Lunatic  Asylum,  then 
at  Blackwell's  Island,  and  containing  comparatively  few  in- 
mates. He  continued  to  serve  on  this  board  while  resident  in 
New  York,  and  thus  became  more  familiar  with  the  pauper 
insane  of  a  large  city  than  his  previous  hospital  experience  had 
required  him  to  be.  This  fact  renewed  his  observations  on 
cases  of  general  paralysis,  which  he  had  carefully  studied  and 
early  reported  while  at  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum,  before  going 
abroad  in  1849.  One  of  his  Bloomingdale  cases,  after  a  period 
of  years,  appeared  to  have  recovered, —  a  fact  that  surprised 
M.  Calmeil,  when  communicated  by  Dr.  Earle  to  him  at 
Charenton,  in  1849.  At  that  time  Calmeil  (the  first  extensive 
writer  on  this  disease  in  France)  had  been  for  about  twenty 
years  at  the  head  of  the  asylum  of  Charenton,  and  had  there 
treated  and  observed  hundreds  of  cases  ;  and  he  assured  Dr. 
Earle  that  he  had  never  known  an  instance  of  complete 
recovery.  Occasionally  his  patients  had  improved  enough  to 
go  home,  and  now  and  then  to  resume  their  occupations  ;  but 
in  every  such  case  the  malady  had  resumed  its  fatal  course. 
Dr.  Earle  published  a  record  of  this  recovered  case  in  1857, 
having  then  observed  it  for  nine  years  ;  and  it  is  of  sufficient 
interest  to  be  given  here  in  a  shortened  form. 

Mr.  X.  was  native  and  resident  in  one  of  the  inland  counties  of 
New  York  (born  in  1806),  of  strong  constitution  and  intellect  above 
mediocrity.  He  went  through  college  and  studied  law,  rising  to  some 
eminence  in  that  profession.  He  married  at  thirty-four,  lived  well, 
and,  though  not  intemperate,  indulged  freely  in  the  luxuries  of  the 
table.  One  of  his  paternal  uncles  had  been  insane,  and  a  maternal 
aunt  melancholiac.  At  the  age  of  forty-one,  after  the  decease  of  a 
child  and  some  pecuniary  troubles,  he  became  depressed,  and  early 
in  1848  had  a  succession  of  epileptiform  fits.  These  had  been  pre- 
ceded by  some  indications  of  local  paralysis.     His  mental  disease 


I850-I856  189 

progressing,  he  was  taken  to  Bloomingdale  in  July,  1848,  then  forty- 
two  years  old,  and  much  excited,  restless,  garrulous,  incoherent,  and 
talking  of  pecuniary  speculations  which  he  wished  to  make  in  Wall 
Street.  His  utterance  was  rapid,  but  uncertain,  his  pulse  quickened, 
his  condition  costive.  This  being  remedied  by  cathartics,  his  excite- 
ment subsided ;  but  the  paralysis  increased,  so  that  in  a  fortnight 
he  could  not  walk  without  stipport.  His  "  delusions  of  grandeur  " 
became  excessive,  and  continued  for  months ;  his  general  sensations 
obtuse,  his  memory  of  recent  events  almost  destroyed,  his  speech 
variable,  and  much  more  imperfect  on  some  days  than  on  others  ; 
his  hand  unsteady,  so  that  he  wrote  his  name  with  difficulty,  the 
pupils  of  his  eyes  contracted,  and  one  somewhat  larger  than  the 
other.  By  the  end  of  September  his  pulse  was  regular  at  124,  and 
he  had  all  the  usual  indication  of  paresis,  which  continued  through 
October.  In  November,  1848,  he  was  removed  to  a  private  asylum 
in  Flushing,  where  he  began  to  amend  after  some  months  ;  and  dur- 
ing the  earlier  half  of  1849  he  was  discharged,  recovered.  Dr. 
Macdonald,  the  physician,  said  that  no  special  treatment  had  been 
pursued,  and  that  his  recovery  was  due  to  an  effort  of  nature.  In 
1857,  ten  years  after  his  first  mental  symptoms  were  observed,  he 
was  living  in  excellent  health,  physical  and  mental,  pursuing  an  ex- 
tensive and  successful  business ;  and  some  years  after  I  learned 
that  he  was  well,  and  had  accumulated  a  good  fortune.  This  is  the 
last  intelligence  received  concerning  him. 

In  1853  Dr.  Earle  gave  a  course  of  lectures  on  insanity  at 
the  New  York  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  in  1854 
published  his  treatise  on  "  Blood-letting  in  Mental  Disorders," 
from  which  quotations  have  already  been  made.  Belief  in  the 
sanguinary  doctrines  of  Rush  had  slowly  become  less  general ; 
but  blood-letting  by  the  lancet  was  still  continued  at  some 
asylums,  and  local  superficial  bleeding  at  more.  In  Dr.  Earle's 
pamphlet  were  condensed  and  classified,  for  analysis,  com- 
parison, or  contrast,  the  opinions  of  many  authors,  American, 
British,  and  Continental,  on  the  value  of  venesection  in  mental 
disease  ;  and  to  this  array  of  authority  Dr.  Earle  added  his 
own  extensive  observation  and  practice.  Though  controverted 
angrily  rather  than  forcibly,  the  treatise  had  an  important 
effect  in   confirming   the   sound    opinion  and   converting   the 


[90 


DR.    EARLE    IX    SOUTH    CAROLINA 


doubtful  and  even  the  unsound  to  his  own  view  of  the  matter. 
The  lancet  soon  fell  into  utter  disuse,  and  the  scarifying  and 
cupping  substitutes  then  followed.  But  in  the  mean  time  his 
own  health  required  him  to  give  up  active  practice.  He  left 
New  York  as  a  residence  in  1854,  and  returned  to  Leicester, 
where  his  domicile  continued  to  be  until  he  was  chosen  super- 
intendent of  the  hospital  at  Northampton  in  1864.  He  went 
forth  from  this  retirement  often,  to  testify  as  an  expert  in  cases 
of  insanity  and  for  journeys  here  and  there;  and  for  a  con- 
siderable time  he  visited  in  Washington,  where  he  was  engaged 
as  an  expert  editor  of  the  "Census  Statistics  of  Insanity,"  taken 
in  i860.  His  chief  task  in  that  was  the  writing  of  an  introduc- 
tory chapter  on  the  causes,  treatment,  and  curability  of  insanity, 
with  a  special  history  of  the  amelioration  of  the  treatment  of 
the  American  insane  up  to  i860.  No  such  historical  statement 
had  previously  been  made ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  any  since  has 
so  fully  and  accurately  treated  the  twenty-five  years  from  1835 
to  i860,  during  which  Dr.  Earle  had  personal  knowledge,  by 
visits,  correspondence,  and  conversation,  of  what  was  doing  in 
his  chosen  specialty. 

Early  in  the  period  between  1850  and  1864,  Dr.  Earle  visited 
the  Carolinas  and  Cuba  (February,  1852)  in  company  with  his 
cousin,  Mrs.  Marcus  Spring,  and  her  husband  ;  and  his  letters 
of  that  date  give  interesting  notes  of  a  state  of  society  now 
almost  as  completely  passed  away  as  if  centuries  had  intervened 
instead  of  less  than  fifty  years.  Writing  from  Charleston,  S.C, 
Feb.  I,  1852,  to  his  sister  Lucy  at  Leicester,  he  said:  — 

Time,  9.30  a.m.;  place,  the  Charleston  Hotel,  room  156;  both 
windows  open,  though  the  room  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  house, 
and  I  am  just  delightfully  comfortable,  sitting  in  front  of  one  of 
them,  where  the  soft  air  comes  upon  me  in  a  gentle  breeze.  The 
doors  and  windows  seen  from  my  position  are  many  of  them  open  ; 
and,  did  I  not  know  to  the  contrary,  I  should  suppose  the  season  to 
be  late  May  or  early  June.  I  wrote  you  on  January  28,  from  the 
store  of  Rowland  &  Taft,  the  latter  the  son  of  Bezaleel  Taft,  of 
Uxbridge,  near  Worcester.  He  is  in  the  cotton  trade,  and  appears 
to  have  made  a  fortune.     His  wife  is  a  beautiful  Irish  woman,  and. 


1850-1856  igi 

like  many  of  the  educated  women  of  her  country,  speaks  EngUsh 
with  an  elegance  of  enunciation  rarely  acquired  by  Americans. 
Being  acquainted  with  Dr.  Dickson,  formerly  a  professor  in  a  New 
York  medical  school,  and  now  in  a  similar  school  here,  I  went  to 
his  college  towards  night,  in  the  hope  of  meeting  him.  The  regular 
lectures  of  the  day  were  over ;  but  Professor  Louis  Agassiz  was 
about  to  begin  one  upon  comparative  anatomy,  which  I  attended, 
and  afterwards  had  a  conversation  with  him  and  Dr.  Dickson.  That 
evening  Marcus,  Rebecca,  Mr.  Taft,  and  I  went  to  the  concert  of 
Catharine  Hayes,  the  Irish  singer.  The  rooms  were  crowded  with 
the  elite  of  Charleston.  She  sang  "  Auld  Robin  Gray  "  better  than 
I  ever  heard  a  ballad  sung  before,  also  the  "  Last  Rose  of  Sum- 
mer," and  took  the  audience  by  storm, —  or,  rather,  by  zephyr. 

Next  day  Mrs.  Taft  called  with  a  coach,  and  took  us  to  drive. 
We  went  several  miles  out  of  town  near  the  banks  of  the  Cooper 
River,  then  crossed  to  those  of  the  Ashley,  between  which  two 
streams  Charleston  stands  on  a  point  of  land,  as  Philadelphia  does 
between  the  Delaware  and  Schuylkill.  The  country  is  level,  the 
soil  sandy,  the  main  roads  made  of  plank.  The  principal  trees  are 
pine,  of  several  species,  the  willow,  magnolia,  palmetto,  and  the 
wild  orange.  In  many  places  the  pines  are  covered  with  much  of 
a  beautiful  kind  of  moss,  hanging  from  the  limbs  in  dense  clusters, 
varying  from  a  foot  to  six  feet  long.  If  the  tree  has  not  too  much, 
it  looks  very  beautiful ;  but  some  are  so  completely  covered  as  to 
have  a  dreary  aspect,  the  vitality  of  the  tree  being  generally  de- 
stroyed by  this  parasite.  Negroes,  both  men  and  women,  were  at 
work  in  many  places,  digging  and  manuring  for  planting.  The 
weather  was  so  warm  we  rode  without  overcoats,  with  hats  off,  and 
the  carriage-M'indows  open.  Coming  back,  we  rode  through  the 
principal  parts  of  the  city,  where  ladies  in  large  numbers  were 
promenading  in  King  Street,  the  fashionable  resort,  with  parasols 
and  spring  dresses. 

January  30,  in  the  forenoon,  I  took  a  stroll  through  the  market, 
in  a  building  similar  to  that  of  Philadelphia,  and  extending  in  length 
five  or  six  squares.  The  venders,  with  very  rare  exceptions,  were 
negroes  ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  purchasers.  Chief  among  the 
vendibles  were  great  quantities  of  sweet  potatoes,  and  two  edible 
roots  I  had  never  seen  before, —  the  yam  and  the  kanyaji, —  besides 
enormous  turnips.     Next  I  went  to  a  slave-auction,  where  two  men. 


192  FESTIVITIES    IN    CHARLESTON 

two  women,  and  three  children  were  sold  in  four  lots.  While  we 
were  lounging  about  afterwards,  Marcus  called  at  the  store  of  one  of 
his  customers,  who,  upon  seeing  me,  knew  me  at  once.  He  had  been 
at  Bloomingdale  two  or  three  times  while  I  was  there.  He  told  me 
that  the  Friends'  meeting-house  that  formerly  existed  here  had  been 
torn  down,  the  lot  remaining  vacant.  It  stood  on  King  Street  at 
a  place  which  is  now  really  the  centre  of  the  city.  When  evening 
came,  we  went  to  another  lecture  on  comparative  anatomy  by 
Agassiz,  at  5  p.m.,  and  at  7  a  lecture  on  geology  by  him.  The  hall 
yas  crowded,  and  many  had  to  stand ;  the  lecture  one  of  the  most 
interesting  I  ever  heard.  At  ten  the  same  evening  Marcus,  Re- 
becca (Mrs.  Spring),  Mr.  Taft,  and  I  went  to  a  ball  at  Dr.  Bellinger's. 
There  were  about  two  hundred  guests,  and  we  had  a  fine  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  "the  beauty  and  chivalry"  of  the  city.  It  is  the 
most  fashionable  season  of  the  year ;  and  there  are  many  strangers 
in  town,  attracted  by  the  season,  and  perhaps  more  by  the  races, 
which  commence  next  Wednesday,  and  are  patronized  by  the  klite 
of  the  land.  The  belle  of  the  evening  was  a  Miss  Caldwell,  of  North 
Carolina,  a  blonde  in  blue,  of  sweet  eighteen.  A  band  of  music, 
and  dancing  in  two  rooms  and  on  the  piazza.  Four  physicians 
came  and  spoke  to  me,  having  met  me  at  Bloomingdale  and  other 
places,  but  whom  I  had  forgotten  as  being  from  Charleston.  The 
supper  table  was  some  seventy  feet  long,  plentifully  supplied  with 
an  almost  endless  variety  of  meats,  cakes,  etc.,  to  say  nothing  of 
brandy,  sherry,  Madeira,  and  champagne.  Marcus  and  Rebecca 
left  at  half-past  twelve,  and  Mr.  Taft  and  I  at  half-past  one.  I  had 
expected  to  see  darker  complexions  in  the  women,  but  in  that  re- 
spect I  should  not  have  known  that  we  were  not  in  New  York  or 
Philadelphia. 

January  31,  at  eleven  o'clock,  Marcus  and  I  went  to  a  celebration, 
in  the  hall  of  the  Charleston  College,  of  the  opening  of  a  Museum 
of  Natural  History,  in  which  Professor  Agassiz  had  an  important 
part.  The  hall  was  densely  filled,  and  many  were  going  away,  un- 
able to  find  even  standing  room  ;  but  we  wedged  ourselves  along, 
and  a  seat  was  given  me  upon  the  platform,  along  with  the  orator 
(Agassiz)  and  the  college  trustees.  About  four  hundred  seats  on  the 
floor  were  occupied  by  ladies ;  and,  but  for  the  fact  that  I  had  once 
before  seen  a  woman,  I  might  have  been  embarrassed  in  meeting  the 
gaze  of  so  many.     The  chaplain  read  a  prayer ;  and  then  Agassiz 


1850-1856  193 

gave  an  extemporaneous  address  for  about  forty  minutes, —  a  most  de- 
cided failure.  The  Museum  was  then  thrown  open,  and  for  an  hour 
or  two  the  audience  entertained  themselves  with  the  curiosities  and 
with  each  other.  Agassiz  receives  several  hundred  dollars  more  for 
four  months'  services  here  than  from  his  professorship  at  Harvard 
College,  and  he  is  said  to  have  engaged  here  for  four  winters. 
After  dinner  (at  three  o'clock)  we  went  to  see  the  statue  of  Calhoun 
at  the  City  Hall,  where  is  also  a  portrait  of  Washington  by  Trum- 
bull. 

To-day,  Sunday,  we  have  been  to  the  Unitarian  church  to  hear  Dr. 
Samuel  Oilman,  a  Northern  man,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  and  author 
of  the  college  song,  "  Fair  Harvard,"  who  is  the  husband  of  Caro- 
line Oilman,  of  hterary  fame.  The  Sabbath  appears  to  be  observed 
here  quite  as  strictly  as  in  the  Northern  cities.  In  the  evening  Mar- 
cus, Rebecca,  and  I  went,  upon  invitation,  to  Dr.  Oilman's,  and 
passed  two  hours  there  very  pleasantly.  Later  we  accompanied 
them  to  a  meeting  of  the  negroes  belonging  to  his  church.  Their 
number  was  not  large,  the  belief  and  the  ceremonies  of  the  Unita- 
rians being  less  attractive  than  those  of  Baptists  and  Methodists. 

February  3. —  This  forenoon  attended  the  auction-sale  of  about 
thirty  negroes.  Dined  at  Augustus  Taft's,  in  whose  garden  the  daffo- 
dils are  in  bloom  and  the  rose-bushes  have  leaves  out  of  the  bud. 
At  7  P.M.  we  went  to  another  of  Agassiz's  lectures,  this  time  on  the 
classification  of  animals.  His  manner  of  treating  it  was  admirable. 
He  illustrates  his  topics  as  clearly  as  any  lecturer  I  ever  heard  in 
America  or  Europe.  The  hall  was  crowded,  and  many  of  the  au- 
dience were  ladies.  He  is  paid  by  a  subscription,  and  the  lectures 
are  free  to  the  public.  At  1 1  p.m.  I  went  to  the  "  St.  Cecilia's  "  ball, 
having  received  a  ticket  from  Dr.  Monefeld,  whom  I  met  at  Dr. 
Bellinger's  yesterday.  The  Cecilians  are  an  old  society  or  club, 
conservative  and  exclusive,  who  give  three  balls  each  winter,  to 
which  strangers  may  be  invited,  but  which  cannot  be  attended  by 
residents  who  are  not  members.  About  one  hundred  of  each  sex 
were  present,  with  a  great  display  of  dress  and  feminine  beauty. 
As  it  is  now  about  Smithfield  quarterly  meeting  in  Rhode  Island, 
I  will  mention,  in  order  that  the  Friends  may  answer  the  queries  re- 
lating to  me,  "  Clear,  as  far  as  appears,"  that  I  only  danced  twice, 
and  that,  being  with  Miss  Howland  (two  of  them),  a  name  prominent 
in  our  society,  it  must  have  been  all  right.     Besides,  I  kept  good 


194  CHARLESTON    RACES    AND    SUPPERS 

hours,  coming  home  as  early  as  two  o'clock.  Yesterday  evening  I 
was  at  a  Soiree  musicale,  chez  M.  Gainbault,  marcha?id  Fraiifais,  who 
has  lived  in  Charleston  several  years,  between  forty  and  fifty  ladies 
and  gentlemen  being  present,  among  them  the  two  Miss  Howlands 
aforesaid,  daughters  of  a  Northern  man  in  business  here.  The 
evening  passed  mostly  in  conversation,  occasionally  interrupted  by 
music,  the  pianists  being  Mrs.  Gainbault,  the  Howlands,  and  a  Mrs. 
West.  As  a  matter  of  course,  we  topped  off  with  a  supper  of 
oysters,  game,  cakes,  ices,  confections,  and  wine,  in  bountiful  sup- 
ply.    I  returned  at  i  a.m. 

February  4. —  Marcus,  Rebecca,  Augustus  Taft,  and  I  rode  out  of 
Charleston  about  two  miles  to  a  large  enclosure,  within  which,  for 
some  reason  or  other,  a  considerable  company  had  assembled. 
Augustus,  as  member  of  an  association  bearing  the  patriarchal 
name  of  "Jockey  Club,"  had  a  red  ribbon  tied  in  a  button-hole  of 
his  coat ;  while  Marcus  and  I,  as  strangers,  had  a  white  ribbon  thus 
attached.  These  seemed  to  admit  us  into  a  high  building,  open  at 
one  side,  and  familiarly  termed  "a  stand."  Augustus  did  not  tell 
us  what  he  took  us  there  for ;  and  so,  after  remaining  a  little  more 
than  three  hours  to  find  out,  we  returned.  But  a  remarkable  thing 
happened  in  that  time.  A  horse,  which  seemed  to  be  travelling  in 
company  with  others,  went  ahead  of  them  all,  and  passed  over  a 
space  of  four  miles  quicker  than  any  other  horse  ever  did  in  the 
whole  State  of  South  Carolina. 

I  had  dined  at  Dr.  Gaillard's,  in  company  with  other  physicians ; 
and  I  spent  the  evening  at  Dr.  Dickson's,  where  I  met  a  physician 
recently  returned  from  Turkey,  who  informed  me  of  the  whereabouts 
of  several  persons  with  whom  I  got  acquainted  in  1838-39,  at 
Athens,  Smyrna,  and  Constantinople.  The  next  day,  in  company 
with  Drs.  Gaillard,  Moulton,  Holbrook,  Wragg,  a  Mr.  Lassaigne, 
and  Marcus  Spring,  I  went  to  Sullivan's  Island,  six  miles  from  town, 
on  which  is  old  Fort  Moultrie ;  but  our  object  was  not  to  see  the 
Revolutionary  battle-ground,  only  to  visit  Agassiz  and  his  wonders 
of  the  deep  there  collected, —  polyps,  jelly-fishes,  star-fish,  sea- 
urchins,  crabs,  etc., —  many  creatures  quite  new  and  interesting  to 
me.  We  last  saw  him  on  the  6th,  before  sailing  for  Havana,  at  his 
lecture  that  evening  on  "the  same  subject  continued." 

The  evening  of  February  5  we  spent  with  friends  at  Mr.  How- 
land's,  father  of  the  ladies  twice  mentioned.     His  two  eldest  daugh- 


1850-1856  195 

ters  were  four  years  in  Europe.  The  elder  speaks  German,  Italian, 
and  French  with  much  fluency.  Among  the  company  was  a  niece 
of  the  artist,  Washington  Allston,  a  beautiful  young  woman,  answer- 
ing to  my  idea  of  Marie  Antoinette.  The  evening  of  the  6th  we 
went  at  ten  o'clock  to  a  meeting  popularly  known  as  the  "Jockey 
Club  Ball,"  a  yearly  meeting  which  always  assembles  here  in 
Charleston,  not  at  the  Friends'  meeting-house,  for  that,  as  I  told 
you,  has  been  destroyed,  but  in  a  large  hall  appropriate  to  such 
gatherings.  I  did  not  dance  with  any  one  except  the  Miss  How- 
lands,  Miss  Carter,  and  Mrs.  Beach ;  and  this  meeting  (like  the  St. 
Cecilia's)  was  closed  with  a  supper  of  several  things  besides  bread 
and  butter.  It  was  only  a  little  past  two  when  I  got  back  to  the 
hotel.  This  was  our  last  day  in  Charleston.  I  am  greatly  in  hopes 
that  the  quiet  life,  the  regular  hours,  and  the  abstemious  diet  of  my 
sojourn  here  will  materially  contribute  to  my  health.  If  not,  it  is  not 
my  intention  to  try  them  again  here. 

Charleston  was  in  1852  the  most  cultivated  and  one  of  the 
most  prosperous  of  the  cities  in  the  slave-holding  States ;  not 
large  in  population,  but  with  long-accumulated  wealth  in  a  few 
families  of  planters  and  merchants,  and  with  a  small  class  of 
professional  men  who  stood  high  in  law  and  medicine,  and  had 
that  turn  for  control  in  politics  which  marked  the  long  domina- 
tion of  the  slaveholding  States  in  Congress  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  government.  Calhoun,  the  one  leading  statesman  of 
the  Carolinas,  had  lately  died  (1850).  His  great  compromising 
opponent,  Clay,  was  still  living,  as  was  Webster ;  but  both  died 
in  this  year,  1852,  after  Webster  had  made  an  unsuccessful 
campaign  for  the  Presidency  in  the  Whig  nominating  con- 
vention. These  three  old  statesmen  had  united  in  1850  in  a 
vain  effort  to  postpone  the  conflict  over  negro  slavery  by  adopt- 
ing the  pro-slavery  compromises  of  that  year ;  and,  when  Dr. 
Earle  visited  Carolina,  the  fanatical  advocacy  of  slavery  by  the 
leaders  of  opinion  at  the  South  had  reached  almost  its  highest 
point.  They  declared  that  "  cotton  was  king,"  and  that  only 
slave  labor  could  profitably  raise  cotton ;  and  they  dictated, 
later  in  the  spring  of  1852,  the  nomination  of  General  Pierce,  of 
New  Hampshire,  for  President,  as  the  most  subservient  of  the 


196  SLAVERY    IN    1 85 2 

Northern  Democrats  to  their  slave-masters'  domination.  He 
was  elected  by  a  great  majority  over  General  Scott,  Webster 
himself  favoring  Pierce's  election  ;  and  the  policy  of  South 
Carolina  seemed  likely  to  prevail  for  long  years  in  the  country, 
bringing  with  it  the  annexation  of  Cuba  as  slave  territory  and 
the  extension  of  slavery  over  the  new  States  won  from  Mexico 
or  built  up  from  the  western  borders  of  Jefferson's  Louisiana 
purchase.  It  was  in  this  heyday  of  slavery  extension  and 
cotton-growing  prosperity  that  Dr.  Earle  visited  Carolina ;  and 
it  was  as  friend  or  a  scientific  neutral  that  the  pro-slavery 
citizens  of  Charleston  had  the  year  before  made  Louis  Agassiz 
a  professor  in  the  medical  college  where  Dr.  Earle  heard  his 
enchanting  lectures.  His  establishment  on  Sullivan's  Island 
was  in  a  cottage  lent  him  by  Mrs.  Rutledge  as  a  laboratory,  at 
the  head  of  a  long  beach,  where  he  could  easily  collect  the 
marine  animals  which  he  was  using  in  his  researches  and 
demonstrations.  Dr.  Holbrook,  who  went  with  Dr.  Earle  and 
other  physicians  to  visit  this  laboratory,  as  above  mentioned, 
had  married  into  the  Rutledge  family,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished in  Carolina ;  and  it  was  at  Mrs.  Holbrook's  country 
house,  "The  Hollow  Tree,"  near  Charleston,  that  Professor 
Agassiz  and  his  family  spent  much  time  during  this  year.  He 
had  first  begun  to  lecture  at  Charleston  in  185 1,  and  it  was 
understood  that  his  engagement  was  for  four  years ;  but  at 
Christmas,  following  this  visit  of  Dr.  Earle,  he  was  attacked 
with  a  violent  fever  at  Dr.  Holbrook's  house,  and  was  com- 
pelled to  give  up  his  engagement  in  the  third  year. 

For  an  early  Abolitionist,  as  Dr.  Earle  was,  and  never  an  ad- 
mirer of  the  peculiarities  of  Southern  society,  his  letters  from 
Charleston  show  very  little  study  of  slavery  upon  its  own 
ground ;  but,  in  fact,  the  hold  of  that  evil  institution  on  the 
country  in  1852  seemed  so  assured  that  scientific  men,  like 
Agassiz  and  Earle,  might  be  excused  for  doubting  if  their 
active  opposition  to  it  could  avail  to  shorten  its  days.  They 
were  received  by  slaveholders  with  flattering  courtesy.  The 
graceful  and  pleasure-loving  society  in  which  they  found  them- 
selves was  agreeable  to  both  ;  and,  though  Dr.  Earle's  Quaker 
scruples  appear  humorously  in  his  letters,  he  was  too  much  a 


1850-1856  197 

philosopher  and  student  of  human  nature  not  to  enjoy  for  a  few 
days  this  Epicurean  life  of  Charleston.  The  city  itself  had  a 
peculiar  history.  Its  two  rivers  were  named  for  the  family  of 
the  first  Lord  Shaftesbury,  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  the  ances- 
tor of  the  lunacy  reformer  of  England,  Lord  Ashley,  and  the 
friend  of  Locke,  who  had  drawn  up  for  Carolina  its  first  inoper- 
ative philosophical  constitution.  It  was  besieged  and  captured 
by  the  British  during  the  Revolution;  and  the  adjacent  region 
became  the  scene  of  the  bitterest  strife  between  the  patriots 
and  the  Tories  of  Carolina,  in  which  Marion  and  Tarleton 
figured  on  the  American  and  the  British  sides.  It  had  threat- 
ened rebellion  under  the  name  of  "nullification"  and  the  lead 
of  Calhoun  twenty  years  before  Dr.  Earle  visited  there ;  and  in 
that  crisis,  which  the  firmness  of  Jackson  terminated  without 
danger  to  the  Union,  Trelawny,  the  lawless  friend  of  Shelley 
and  Byron,  who  had  fought  beside  Odysseus  in  the  Greek  Revo- 
lution, came  over  to  join  the  Carolina  insurgents.  Only  nine 
years  after  Dr.  Earle's  visit  Charleston  fired  the  first  gun  in 
the  Civil  War ;  and  under  the  unexpected  result  of  that  can- 
nonade the  whole  social  system  of  Carolina,  as  it  existed  in 
1852,  was  destroyed,  and  political  power,  even  in  their  own 
State,  passed  away  from  the  slaveholders  for  years. 

On  leaving  Charleston  in  February,  1852,  Dr.  Earle  and  his 
cousins  sailed  for  Key  West  and  Cuba  on  a  steamer  bound  for 
the  Panama  Isthmus,  with  many  emigrants  to  California,  then 
newly  gold-producing  and  very  attractive  to  the  roving  Ameri- 
can young  men.  His  description  of  the  short  voyage  to  Havana 
belongs  in  this  chapter  :  — 

We  left  Charleston  Sunday,  February  8,  at  8  a.m.,  in  the  steamer 
"  Isabel,"  with  60  cabin  passengers  and  328  more  in  the  steerage,  the 
latter  bound  for  California,  and  mostly  "  Crackers,"  as  the  Charles- 
ton people  call  them, —  persons  from  the  interior  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  of  primitive  habits  and  uncouth  manners.  Among 
them  are  about  60  negroes, —  a  few  of  them  free,  but  chiefly  slaves 
taken  to  California  (though  a  nominally  free  State)  under  some 
special  agreement.  Not  i  in  20  of  the  steerage  passengers  had  ever 
seen  the  ocean  before ;  and  a  good  many  soon  wished  they  never 


198  THE    EAGLESWOOD    COMMUNITY 

had  seen  it.  At  eleven  on  Tuesday  evening  we  touched  at  Key 
West,  which  is  a  port  on  an  island  between  Florida  and  Cuba.  I 
went  ashore,  and  walked  through  a  few  silent  streets  in  the  twenty 
minutes  we  stayed  there, —  among  low  cottages  of  queer  construc- 
tion, shaded  in  many  places  by  cocoanut  and  other  palm-trees. 
Everything  around  me  bespoke  a  tropical  climate,  and  the  novelty 
of  the  scene  at  midnight  was  singularly  impressive.  The  moon  was 
just  rising,  and  even  she  told  us  of  our  change  of  latitude.  She  was 
at  the  third  quarter  ;  and,  instead  of  being  turned  up,  as  we  see  it 
in  New  England,  the  line  between  light  and  darkness  was  horizontal. 
The  north  star  was  much  nearer  the  horizon  than  I  had  ever  seen 
it,  even  in  the  Levant ;  and  the  "  Dipper  "  dipped  its  long  handle 
into  the  sea.  In  other  words,  Ursa  Major  wet  the  extremity  of  her 
tail. 

On  his  return  voyage  Dr.  Earle  landed  at  Savannah,  and 
went,  by  way  of  Cliarleston  and  Richmond,  to  Philadelphia 
early  in  March,  1852. 

In  contrast  to  these  halcyon  days  among  the  slaveholders 
and  the  slave-auctions  of  Carolina  is  a  picture  of  the  Northern 
emancipationist  circle,  many  of  them  Dr.  Earle's  kindred,  and 
two  of  them  (Mrs.  Weld  and  Sarah  Grimke)  natives  of  Charles- 
ton, but  excluded  from  the  society  of  their  birthplace  because 
of  their  faith  in  emancipation,  not  only  for  colored  men,  but  for 
white  women.  On  his  return  from  a  few  months  in  Washing- 
ton, late  in  April,  1856, —  four  years  after  he  was  with  the 
Spring  family  at  Charleston, —  Dr.  Earle  went  to  their  new 
home  of  Eagleswood,  near  Perth  Amboy,  N.J.  (where  Thoreau 
visited  and  surveyed  the  lands  of  the  estate  in  November  of 
the  same  year),  and  there  met  the  same  circle  of  Quakers  and 
radicals  which  Thoreau  describes  in  a  letter  to  his  sister  :  *  — 

This  is  a  queer  place.  There  is  one  large,  long  stone  building 
which  cost  some  $40,000,  a  few  shops  and  offices,  an  old  farm-house, 
and  Mr.  Spring's  perfectly  private  residence,  within  twenty  rods  of 
the  main  building.     The  central  fact  here  is  evidently  Mr.  Theodore 

•  See  "  Familiar  Letters  of  Henry  David  Thoreau,"  Boston,  1894,  pp.  336-338.  Mr.  Bimey  had 
been  a  slaveholder  in  Alabama,  but  had  freed  his  slaves  long  before,  and  removed  to  the  North.  His 
wife  was  a  Miss  Fitzhugh,  related  to  the  wife  of  Gcrrit  Smith ;  and  that  baronial  democrat  of  Central 
New  York  often  visited  Eagleswood. 


1850-1856  199 

Weld's  school,  recently  established,  around  which  various  other 
things  revolve.  One  evening  I  went  to  the  school-room,  hall,  or 
what  not,  to  see  the  children  and  their  teachers  and  patrons  dance. 
Mr.  Weld,  a  kind-looking  man  with  a  long  white  beard,  danced  with 
them;  and  so  did  Mr.  Spring  and  others.  Sunday  morning  I  at- 
tended a  sort  of  Quaker  meeting  at  the  same  place.  Imagine  them 
sitting  close  to  the  wall,  all  around  a  hall,  with  old  Quaker-looking 
men  and  women  here  and  there  :  Mrs.  Weld  and  her  sister,  two 
elderly  gray-headed  ladies,  the  former  in  extreme  bloomer  costume, 
which  was  what  you  may  call  remarkable  ;  Mr.  Arnold  Buffum,  with 
broad  face  and  a  great  white  beard,  looking  hke  a  pier-head  made  of 
the  cork-tree  with  the  bark  on,  as  if  he  could  buffet  a  considerable 
wave  ;  James  G.  Birney,  formerly  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  with 
another  particularly  white  head  and  beard,  etc.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Kirkland 
has  just  bought  a  lot  here.  .  .  .  Mr.  Alcott  has  just  come  down  here 
for  the  third  Sunday. 

And  now  for  Dr.  Earle's  experiences  in  the  preceding  May. 
He  had  tarried  in  Philadelphia  on  his  way  North,  hearing 
Thackeray  lecture  there  to  a  small  audience  on  Swift,  and 
listening  to  sharp  debates  in  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Quakers,  long  divided  on  theological  questions.  Finally, 
we  have  this  :  — 

Wednesday,  April  t^o,  1856. —  I  packed  my  luggage,  and  bade  adieu 
to  Philadelphia,  crossing  the  Delaware  River  to  Camden,  and  coming 
over  the  railroad  from  Camden  to  Amboy,  where  I  found  a  boatman 
who  brought  me  with  oars  a  mile  and  a  half  up  the  Raritan  River  to 
Eagleswood,  formerly  a  "phalanstery"  called  the  "Raritan  Bay 
Union."  So  here  I  am  at  Marcus  Spring's.  Rebecca  (Mrs.  Spring) 
is  confined  to  her  room  from  the  effect  of  a  fall,  though  sitting  up 
most  of  the  day.  Mrs.  Pauline  Wright  Davis,  of  Providence,  and 
Mrs.  Oliver  Johnson  are  here  on  a  visit.  The  "helps  "  in  her  house- 
hold are  a  Frenchman,  a  French  woman,  a  German  girl, —  well  edu- 
cated,—  and  an  Irish  woman,  the  object  being  to  teach  the  children 
to  speak  German  and  French  (but  not  Irish).  Uncle  Arnold  and 
Aunt  Rebecca  (Buffum)  are  here,  and  well. 

May  I. —  All  the  old  folks  and  young  folks  of  Eagleswood,  of 
whom  there  are  in  all  about  fifty,  had  made  great  preparations  for 


200  LIFE    AT    EAGLESWOOD 

celebrating  May  Day  in  the  old  English  style  here.  There  was  to 
have  been  a  picnic  in  the  woods,  and  a  Queen  of  the  May  to  be 
crowned  there.  But  the  winds  blew  and  the  rain  fell  in  torrents, 
and  the  young  folks  were  sadly  disappointed.  Partial  consolation 
was  found  in  the  evening  festival, —  a  fancy-dress  ball,  at  which 
about  thirty  danced,  including  myself.  Time  brings  the  unexpected  ; 
for  example,  Mrs.  Davis  and  me  dancing  together,  with  Sarah 
Grimke,  Angelina  (Grimke)  Weld,  and  James  G.  Birney  as  spectators. 
I  omitted  to  say  that  on  the  evening  of  my  arrival  here  I  attended 
the  weekly  meeting  of  the  Eagleswood  Lyceum,  at  which  papers 
were  read  by  Mr.  Birney  and  Charles  Weld,  son  of  Theodore. 

-^<y  3- — I  went  to  New  York  to-day,  and  returned  to  Eagleswood 
in  the  evening,  Mrs.  Caroline  Kirkland,  the  author,  and  her  daughter 
accompanying  us  for  a  visit. 

May  4. —  On  this  very  pleasant  Sunday  we  had  a  meeting,  at  which 
a  hymn  was  read,  a  chapter  in  the  Bible  read,  and  a  sermon  delivered. 
Afterwards  we  rambled  all  over  the  large  premises  of  romantic 
Eagleswood,  the  property  mainly  of  Marcus  Spring,  who  was  one  of 
the  owners  when  it  was  a  community. 

It  was  at  Eagleswood,  in  the  October  and  November  of  1859, 
that  Mrs.  Spring  received  as  her  guest  the  wife  of  John  Brown, 
of  Kansas  and  Virginia,  on  her  way  to  and  from  the  prison  of 
her  husband  at  Charlestown,  W.  Va.  Among  the  Northern 
women  who  gave  sympathy,  money,  and  admiration  to  that 
heroic  family,  none  was  more  active  or  helpful  than  this  cousin 
of  Dr.  Earle,  with  whom  he  had  witnessed  the  flourishing  state 
of  the  slaveholders  of  Carolina  and  of  Cuba. 

A  few  months  before  the  tragedy  of  Harper's  Ferry  and 
Charlestown,  Dr.  Earle  had  again  spent  a  few  days  at  Eagles- 
wood with  his  cousins,  of  which  visit  he  thus  speaks  :  — 

I  stayed  in  Eagleswood  from  the  13th  to  the  17th  of  January, 
1859,  and  passed  nearly  half  my  time  there,  ,in  Theodore  Weld's 
school,  which  I  think,  on  the  whole,  the  best  school  I  ever  saw. 
It  was  a  gratification,  among  others,  to  find  a  place  where  the  letter 
jR  is  recognized,  practically,  as  an  element  of  our  language.  His 
general  system  may  be  understood  from  an  incident  of  the  last  day 
I  was  in  his  school.      An  assistant  having  charge  of  the  common 


1850-1859  20I 

school-room,  Mr.  Weld  came  in  with  his  arms  full  of  hammers,  pin- 
cers, shears,  steelyards,  etc.,  laid  them,  including  a  toy  wheelbarrow, 
on  the  table,  and  said  to  his  class  in  Natural  Philosophy  :  "  Here 
are  various  implements  constructed  upon  the  principle  of  the  several 
forms  of  the  lever.  They  will  be  here  two  days,  in  which  time  I  want 
you  all  to  examine  them,  and  then  be  prepared,  each  of  you,  to 
give  a  lecture  on  them,  demonstrating  the  principle  by  which  they 
each  act.  And  please  remember  that  I  wish  each  of  you,  in  examin- 
ing them,  to  depend  on  his  own  powers  of  observation,  and  not  ask 
explanations  from  others."  That  is  the  way  to  make  good  scholars. 
In  one  class  a  pupil  only  nine  years  old,  read  a  long  original  analy- 
sis of  a  play  of  Shakespeare's,  giving  his  opinion  of  the  several 
characters.  In  the  reading  classes,  if  a  pupil  miscalled  a  word,  the 
others  said,  "wrong,"  and  the  reader  tried  again.  If  he  failed  the 
second  or  the  third  time,  his  error  was  not  pointed  out ;  but  he  sat 
down,  and  the  next  pupil  read  the  sentence.  Thus  in  every  branch 
the  pupil  is  taught  to  rely  upon  himself,  and  does  not  fall  into  the 
carelessness  which  always  marks  those  whose  teachers  are  constantly 
assisting  them.  No  better  proof  of  the  excellence  of  this  system  is 
needed  than  the  brilliant  success  of  this  Eagleswood  school  of 
seventy  pupils,  boys  and  girls,  educated  together. 

When  I  arrived,  the  river  was  frozen  over.  The  next  day  Mr. 
Weld  and  his  assistant  teachers,  male  and  female,  and  nearly  all 
the  children,  after  school  hours,  went  to  slide  and  skate  on  the  ice. 
Even  Mrs.  Weld  —  sober,  staid,  intellectual  Angelina  Grimke  that 
was — joined  in  the  pastime.  Alack  and  alas!  what  is  the  world 
coming  to  ? 

Signor  Mario,  an  Italian  exile  from  Venice,  with  his  English  wife 
(Jessie  White  formerly),  who  was  seized  and  imprisoned  in  Genoa 
two  or  three  years  ago  on  suspicion  *  that  she  was  concerned  with 
Mazzini  in  his  efforts  to  revolutionize  Italy,  passed  a  day  at 
Marcus  Spring's  while  I  was  there,  and  addressed  the  pupils  and 
others  upon  the  condition  of  Italy.  At  the  close  of  the  lecture  a 
contribution  was  taken  up  to  assist  a  school  for  young  Italians  in 
London.     The  donations  amounted  to  $112. 

*  This  lady  still  lives  in  Italy,  and  is  one  of  the  correspondents  of  the  New  York  Nation.  She 
has  written  much, —  among  other  things,  a  Life  of  Garibaldi,  whom  she  knew  well.  It  was  true  that 
she  was  in  the  councils  of  Marzini,  who  in  1859  was  still  under  ban  in  Italy,  but  who  is  now  honored, 
with  Garibaldi,  as  one  of  the  noblest  of  his  country's  patriots. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CUBA  IN  THE  DAYS  OF  THE  SLAVE-TRADE. 

In  these  years  of  revolution  and  war  in  Cuba,  following  the 
emancipation  of  slavery  in  North  and  South  America,  the  old 
order  of  things,  when  our  slave-holding  politicians  hungered  for 
annexing  the  rich  island  to  add  sugar  planting  to  cotton-grow- 
ing as  two  firm  pillars  of  the  system,  has  so  completely  passed 
away  that  Dr.  Earle's  description  of  his  travels  in  Cuba  reads 
like  ancient  history.  He  was  in  the  gay  mood  of  a  tourist,  as 
he  had  been  many  years  before  while  traversing  Southern 
Europe.  He  was  now  in  his  first  tropical  experiences ;  and  his 
adventures,  if  not  startling,  as  those  of  Americans  in  Cuba 
have  lately  been,  were  full  of  novelty  and  interest.  His  diary 
thus  goes  on  :  — 

Hava7ia,  Feb.  14,  1852. —  On  Wednesday  last,  February  11,  at 
8  A.M.,  the  high  lands  of  Cuba  appeared  from  the  deck  of  the 
"  Isabel,"  like  a  dim  cloud  on  the  southern  horizon.  Green  fields 
soon  became  visible,  with  the  groves  of  palms  and  other  trees,  and 
next  the  stately  fortress  of  the  Moro  and  part  of  the  city  of  Havana. 
At  ten  we  passed  the  castle,  entered  the  harbor, —  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  secure  from  storms  in  the  world, —  and  anchored  near  the 
wharves.  In  the  two  hours  required  for  obtaining  permission  to 
land,  we  enjoyed  from  the  deck  the  novel,  interesting  scene  around 
us, —  ships  of  many  nations,  the  peculiar  city  houses,  the  fortresses, 
the  distant  country  seats,  and  the  groves  of  tropical  trees.  In  the 
boats  that  came  around  us  the  people  dressed  in  white  linen,  with 
Leghorn  or  Panama  sombreros,  two-thirds  of  them  with  cigars  in  their 
mouths,  and  the  other  third  just  going  to  smoke.  Finally,  we  paid 
$2  each  for  a  printed  permit  to  land,  came  ashore  in  boats,  and  were 
whirled  off  in  volantes  to  Mrs.  Almy's  hotel. 

In  all  that  I  have  seen  of  Europe  there  was  nothing  in  nature 
so  unlike  New  England  scenery  as  this  of  Cuba,  and  nothing  so 
different  in  manners  and  customs,  this  side  of  Greece,  unless  Venice 


1852  203 

be  excepted.  The  original  city  of  Havana  is  a  fortress,  surrounded 
by  a  high  wall,  and  now  contains  perhaps  100,000  people.  The 
streets  are  straight,  few  of  them  paved,  and  hardly  more  than 
eighteen  feet  wide, —  some  only  sixteen, —  mostly  without  sidewalks. 
Where  there  are  any,  they  are  but  fifteen  inches  or  two  feet 
wide.  The  houses  (all  built  of  stone,  covered  with  "  rough  cast ") 
are  often  two  or  three  stories  high,  each  story  from  fourteen  to 
twenty  feet ;  but  half  are  only  one  story,  with  flat  roofs  used 
as  walks  or  for  flowers  or  for  drying  clothes.  The  floors  are  of 
smooth,  hard  mortar,  occasionally  of  marble ;  carpets  rare,  except 
small  pieces  of  straw  matting.  The  windows  are  most  peculiar, 
very  large  (ten  or  twelve  feet  high  by  five  or  six  wide),  descending 
to  the  floor,  and  guarded  outside  with  iron  bars  an  inch  thick.  Inside 
they  are  furnished  with  blinds  or  close  shutters.  This  is  the  whole 
window.  I  have  traversed  many  streets,  and  not  seen  a  dozen  win- 
dows with  sash  or  glass,  the  climate  not  requiring  it.  Every  bed  is 
high-posted,  and  with  a  gauze  curtain  quite  enclosing  it,  to  keep  out 
mosquitoes.  Neglecting  to  draw  mine  the  first  night,  I  found  six- 
teen red  spots  on  my  hands  in  the  morning,  not  to  mention  my  face. 

The  last  three  weeks  are  said  t-o  have  been  as  cold  as  the  "  old- 
est inhabitant"  can  remember,  yet  the  people  dress  as  thinly  as 
our  New  Englanders  do  in  summer.  And,  although  barely  past  mid- 
winter with  us,  summer  vegetables  are  here  plenty.  At  dinner  we 
have  lettuce,  string  beans,  green  peas  and  green  corn,  two  kinds  of 
sweet  potatoes  (one  perfectly  white),  yams,  the  plantain  fruit, 
bananas,  oranges,  and  pineapples,  the  last  much  better  than  those 
exported, —  softer,  and  retaining  their  peculiar  flavor  without  that 
disagreeable  acidity  that  often  makes  our  tongues  sore.  But  ex- 
penses are  no  joke  here.  We  pay  $3  a  day  each  for  board,  and  $1 
an  hour  for  a  carriage  when  we  drive  out.  The  volante  is  generally 
used, —  a  queer  concern  with  enormous  wheels,  and  the  horse  a  long 
way  in  front  of  the  carriage,  while  the  "body  "is  so  far  in  front  of 
the  two  wheels  that  the  shaft-horse  bears  much  of  the  weight  of  the 
passengers  as  well  as  the  rider  who  mounts  him,  wearing  seven- 
league  boots  to  keep  ofif  the  mud,  and  tremendous  spurs.  The 
horse's  tail  is  long,  braided,  and  tied  to  the  back  of  the  saddle.  An 
awning  keeps  off  the  sun  from  you.  The  ladies  sit  without  bonnets, 
but  many  with  thin  black  veils  thrown  over  their  heads. 

February  15. —  It  is  First  Day,  but  the  change  in  Havana  from 


204  CUBAN    LABORS    AND    AMUSEMENTS 

the  ordinary  week-day  is  barely  sufficient  to  be  noticed  by  a 
stranger.  I  went  out  about  seven  this  morning,  and  found  that  the 
shops  were  not  generally  opened  so  early  as  yesterday.  The  market, 
however,  was  more  than  usually  crowded.  As  in  most  foreign  coun- 
tries, it  is  here  a  square  building,  enclosing  a  large  court, —  perhaps 
an  acre, —  and  to-day  thronged,  building  and  court,  by  sellers  and 
buyers.  All  kinds  of  vegetables  that  we  have  from  April  to  October 
were  there, —  with  many  that  we  never  have, —  all  fresh  from  the 
ground,  the  stem,  the  vine,  or  the  tree.  I  went  into  several 
churches,  the  great  Cathedral  among  them.  The  number  of  persons 
going  to  the  churches  was  greater  than  on  week-days,  each  family 
followed  by  a  richly  dressed  negro,  carrying  a  piece  of  carpet  for 
them  to  kneel  on.  The  senoras  and  senoritas  were  mostly  on  foot, 
in  white  or  parti-colored  dresses, —  some  ladies  bareheaded,  others 
with  a  black  veil  so  thin  as  to  impede  the  view  very  little,  either  of 
themselves  or  of  those  who  look  at  them.  In  some  of  the  churches 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  show ;  but  it  is  tinsel  and  mortar  rather  than 
the  gold,  silver,  and  rich  marbles  I  used  to  see  in  Italian  churches. 
Beneath  the  Cathedral,  they  say,  the  bones  of  Columbus  rest ;  *  and 
within  it  is  the  only  monument  in  Cuba  to  his  memory,  a  marble 
slab  inserted  in  the  wall,  near  the  high  altar,  with  an  alto-rilievo  bust 
of  the  great  navigator,  and  an  inscription.  As  I  entered,  a  priest 
was  performing  at  a  side  altar ;  and  there  was  a  large  audience.  Half 
a  dozen  negroes  were  at  work  round  the  grand  altar,  supplying  the 
many  candelabra  with  wax  tapers,  six  feet  high,  and  making  other 
preparations  for  high  mass.  I  could  not  get  within  thirty  feet  of  the 
monument  without  treading  on  the  ground  devoted  to  the  priests  and 
their  servants ;  but,  following  a  rule  which  I  have  found  very  useful 
to  a  traveller,  "Go  till  you  are  stopped,"  I  put  on  a  bold  face, 
walked  straight  up  to  the  monument,  took  out  note-book  and  pencil, 
and  copied  this  inscription,  in  Spanish, — 

O  Remains  and  Image  of  the  Great  Columbus! 

A  thousand  centuries  shall  ye  be  preserved  in  this  Urn, 

And  in  the  memory  of  our  Nation. 

•  Although  there  is  yet  some  doubt  on  the  subject,  it  is  probable  that  the  bones  of  Columbus  do 
rest,  after  almost  as  many  journeys  as  his  living  body  made,  in  this  Cathedral  of  Havana.  He  died  at 
Valladolid  in  Spain,  May  20,  1506,  was  first  buried  there,  but  in  ijoq  was  removed  to  Seville.  About 
1 54 1  his  remains  were  sent  to  Hispaniola,  to  lie  in  the  grand  new  Cathedral  of  Santo  Domingo,  as 
they  did,  in  accordance  with  his  own  wish,  for  two  centuries  and  a  half.  I5ut  in  1795  the  conquering 
French  republicans  got  possession  of  the  Spanish  end  of  Hispaniola;  and  the  Spaniards,  acting  in 
concert  with  the  then  Duke  of  Veragua,  a  descendant  of  Columbus,  supposed  they  had  removed  the 


1852  205 

At  ten  o'clock  we  took  a  barouche  from  a  stable  kept  by  a 
Yankee,  and  drove  into  the  country.  Farm  labors  were  going  on, 
as  on  week-days.  Three  miles  out  of  Havana  we  halted  at  the 
Bishop's  Garden,  chiefly  interesting  for  its  many  palms,  mango-trees, 
and  bamboos.  The  last  grow  like  bulrushes,  but  are  jointed,  are 
from  an  inch  to  three  inches  in  diameter  near  the  ground,  and  from 
twenty  to  forty  feet  high.  When  swayed  by  the  wind,  they  strike 
against  each  other  with  a  clicking  like  castanets  in  the  hands  of  a 
Spanish  dancer.  Among  the  visitors  we  saw  a  family  of  Creoles  (na- 
tive Cubans)  sitting  under  a  cluster  of  tall  bamboos.  They  bid  us 
good  morning,  and  we  stopped  to  admire  a  beautiful  Italian  grey- 
hound belonging  to  them.  The  mother  pointed  to  Jenny  S.,  and  said 
she  was  "a  Spanish  girl."  One  of  the  young  ladies  asked  if  she  was 
my  daughter.  I  told  her  no,  that  Marcus  was  her  father.  Then, 
putting  on  a  very  lackadaisical  look,  I  added  that  I  had  no  wife. 
At  first  she  did  not  understand  my  bad  Spanish ;  but,  in  a  moment, 
assisted  by  one  of  the  others,  she  caught  the  idea,  and,  with  tropical 
vivacity,  clasped  her  hands,  laughed,  and  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  Senor  no 
tenga  una  sposa,"  and  then  blushed  deeply  as  a  brunette  can  blush 
from  the  top  of  her  forehead  to  the  top  of  her  dress, —  no  little  dis- 
tance, to  tell  the  truth.  A  mile  farther  from  the  town  is  the  larger 
garden  of  the  Conte  Palatino,  approached  through  a  long  avenue  of 
royal  palms,  and  with  a  much  larger  variety  of  tropical  productions 
than  in  the  Bishop's  Garden,  and  kept  in  better  order.  It  offers  a 
fine  view  over  the  neighboring  country.  A  negro  cut  for  us  a  bou- 
quet of  roses,  dahlias,  the  hibiscus,  and  flowers  with  names  to  me 
unknown.  As  we  drove  back  to  Havana,  the  road,  on  both  sides, 
was  bordered  with  roses  and  oleanders,  all  in  blossom. 

At  4  P.M.  we  again  took  the  barouche,  and  drove  first  to  the  out- 
skirts of  the  fortified  part  of  the  town.  Here,  in  a  street  running 
next  to  the  city  wall,  with  houses  on  the  opposite  side,  were  many 
negroes, —  men,  women,  and  children, —  assembled,  according  to 
their  custom  on  this  day  of  the  week,  for  a  half-holiday.  In  a  short 
distance  were  a  dozen  rooms,  opening  by  large  doors  and  windows 
to  the  street,  and  used  as  dance-halls  by  these  people.  In  all  there 
was   music  of  some  sort,  generally  that  of  a  rude  drum,  and  a  still 

remains  from  Santo  Domingo  to  Havana.  But  the  bishop  of  that  Cathedral  has  lately  maintained 
that  the  bones  then  taken  away  were  those  of  Diego,  the  son,  not  of  Christopher,  the  sire.  The  Span- 
ish authorities  are  sure  that  the  bishop  of  Santo  Domingo  is  mistaken,  as  presumably  he  is  ;  but  who 
shall  decide  when  bishops  disagree? 


2  06  SUNDAYS    IN    HAVANA 

ruder  instrument  (seen  by  me  for  the  first  time  here)  formed  of  steel 
springs,  vibrating  as  you  press  them  down  at  the  end,  letting  the 
fingers  slip  off.  The  dancing  was  as  rude  as  such  music, —  no  har- 
mony in  the  one,  no  grace  in  the  other, —  such  as  one  might  expect 
in  Central  Africa,  from  which  the  slave-trade  still  brings  many 
negroes.  They  engaged  enthusiastically  in  the  sport,  and  were  up- 
roariously happy.  We  next  went  to  the  Paseo,  the  fashionable 
promenade  and  driving-course,  and  now  at  its  most  fashionable  hour 
of  the  week.  Suppose  from  three  to  five  thousand  men,  in  their 
"  Sabba'-day  clothes,"  ranged  along  the  sidewalks  of  Main 
Street,  in  Worcester,  from  the  City  Hall  to  the  Court  House  (only 
this  Cuban  street  was  but  half  as  wide),  then  take  as  many  chaises, 
(mostly)  half  of  them  with  the  tops  thrown  back,  as  will  form  a  close 
procession  on  both  sides  of  the  street,  all  the  way.  Dress  all  the 
pretty  ladies  in  the  carriages,  and  most  of  the  homely  ones,  as  for  an 
evening  party, —  with  a  few  gentlemen  interspersed, —  without  head- 
dress or  shawl,  then  set  the  carriages  in  motion  at  a  walk.  Let 
everybody  look  at  everybody  else,  and  make  looking,  with  the  nat- 
ural comment,  their  sole  business  for  two  hours.  Meantime  the 
people  on  the  sidewalks  must  stand  still  and  stare,  getting  as  close 
to  the  carriages  as  they  can  or  as  the  police  will  let  them, —  say, 
within  four  feet.  That  is  the  way  they  do  things  on  the  Paseo,  Sun- 
days. We  joined  this  procession  as  we  might  in  the  Bois  de  Bou- 
logne of  Paris,  and  enjoyed  it  much,  until  it  grew  so  dark  that 
"  nobody  couldn't  see  nobody  "  with  satisfactory  distinctness.  Then 
ever}'body  dispersed.  Of  course,  the  theatre  was  open  in  the  even- 
ning, —  the  world-renowned  Teatro  de  Tacon,  larger  than  any  other 
modern  theatre  in  the  world,  except  La  Scala  in  Milan  and  one  in 
Naples.  This  evening  the  house  was  full,  the  captain-general  of 
Cuba,  De  la  Concha,  with  two  of  his  daughters,  being  present.  I 
think  this  will  do  for  one  Sunday. 

Yesterday  (14th)  I  had  walked  for  some  hours  in  the  country, 
going  into  the  fields,  the  groves,  and  among  the  negro  houses.  It 
was  all  delightful,  except  the  stepping  on  a  big  prickly  pear,  and  get- 
ing  three  large  thorns  stuck  through  my  thin  shoe  into  my  foot.  A 
negro  helped  me  to  get  them  out,  and  was  wonderfully  pleased  with 
the  rubber  springs  of  my  Congress  boot.  I  found  the  cocoanut 
palms  very  numerous,  giving  an  African  aspect  to  the  country  land- 
scape.    The  fruit,  growing  in   clusters  at  the  top  of  the  tree,  just 


1852  207 

beneath  the  leaves,  was  very  abundant.  On  one  tree  I  counted  one 
hundred  nuts,  the  lowest  full  grown,  the  highest  as  large  as  a  hen's 
egg.  Indian  corn  was  growing  in  large  fields  for  fodder,  sown  like 
grain,  and  cut  when  in  tassel.  Four  crops  a  year  are  raised  in  the 
same  field.  It  is  brought  into  the  city  on  horses  and  mules,  the 
creatures  so  enveloped  in  corn-stalks  that  only  the  heads  and  legs  are 
visible.  Other  things  brought  into  the  city  or  carried  from  it  are 
transported  in  the  same  way,  one  man  often  taking  charge  of  sev- 
eral animals.  He  leads  the  forward  mule,  and  the  rest  come  behind, 
Indian  file,  each  tied  to  the  tail  of  the  other.  Oxen  are  also  yoked 
in  an  odd  way,  the  yoke  bound  to  their  horns  and  to  a  cushion  on 
their  foreheads,  without  a  bow,  so  that  they  draw  by  pushing  with 
the  horns  and  head,  the  head  being  almost  as  fixed  as  if  in  a  piUor}-. 
Each  ox  has  a  rope  in  his  nostril,  while  the  driver  in  his  ox-cart 
guides  them  by  reins  attached  to  the  nostril-ropes.  He  carries  a 
stick  about  the  size  and  length  of  a  rake-handle,  with  a  sharp  nail 
at  one  end.  This  is  his  goad.  The  ploughing  is  done  much  as  in 
Greece.  A  plough  with  but  one  handle  and  a  beam  ten  feet  long, 
entering  a  ring  of  the  yoke,  has  a  long,  narrow  ploughshare  of  wood, 
tipped  with  an  iron  point. 

February  18. —  We  came  from  Havana  to-day  by  railroad  to  Guines 
(two  syllables),  a  town  almost  fifty  miles  from  Havana,  inland,  but 
nearer  the  southern  than  the  northern  coast,  with  some  2,500  people, 
an  old  stone  church  in  its  centre,  surrounded  by  stone  houses  of  one 
story,  covered  with  brick  tiling.  The  streets  are  wretchedly  bad, 
rocky,  uneven,  and  without  drains  ;  but  no  such  need  exists  for  good 
streets  as  with  us,  for  the  transportation  here,  as  in  Havana,  is  on 
the  backs  of  horses  and  mules.  As  we  came,  the  country  was  almost 
an  uninterrupted  level,  a  ridge  of  high  hills,  around  which  the  rail- 
road curves  to  avoid  grade,  lying  at  a  distance  on  our  left.  We 
came  through  forests  of  palms  and  other  trees,  often  filled  with  an 
undergrowth  of  shrubs  and  clustering  vines,  in  tropical  profusion, 
and  so  dense  that  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  get  through  them 
without  a  road.  These  alternated  with  fields  of  plantain  and 
bananas,  some  of  tobacco  and  pineapple,  a  few  orange  trees,  crops 
of  potatoes,  corn,  tomatoes,  and  other  vegetables,  some  waste  land, 
lots  of  wild  flowers  new  to  me,  passing  many  haciendas,  or  farm- 
houses, invariably  low,  and  with  roofs  thatched  with  palm-leaf.  As 
showing  the  climate,  I  may  say  that  we  saw  Indian  com  in  all  stages 


2o8  SUGAR  GROWING  IN  CUBA 

of  its  growth,  from  four  inches  high  to  the  stalk  of  ripe  ears.  If  a 
Yankee  farmer  could  come  here,  and  preserve  his  habits  of  industry 
and  thrift,  he  might  soon  grow  rich.  His  farm  would  yield  from  two 
to  four  times  as  much  as  in  Leicester,  and  most  of  it  would  need  no 
manure.  Barns  are  almost  unknown.  No  provision  is  needed  for 
cattle  in  winter.  Clothing  would  cost  little ;  for  cotton  may  be  worn 
the  year  through,  except  an  overcoat  for  cool  mornings  and  nights. 
The  mercury  this  winter  has  been  as  low  as  50°  or  even  48°  Fah- 
renheit, a  degree  of  cold  almost  unprecedented.  The  average  winter 
temperature  at  Havana  is  70°,  the  coldest  about  60°.  Carpets 
would  be  a  nuisance,  unless  of  straw  or  oilcloth ;  sackcloth,  with 
a  folded  blanket  on  it,  and  covered  with  a  sheet,  makes  the  bed ; 
and  nine-tenths  of  the  nights  the  sleeper  needs  nothing  but  a  sheet 
over  him.  No  expense  for  fuel  except  to  cook  with.  No  chimneys  or 
fireplaces  are  needed  save  in  the  kitchen.  Thus,  while  a  farmer's 
income  is  increased  here,  his  expenses  are  much  diminished ;  yet  the 
Cuban  farmers  have  not  half  the  conveniences  of  life  that  the  New 
England  farmer  has,  and  seem  to  be  miserably  poorr  So  I  suppose, 
if  Yankees  should  come  here,  they  would  fall  into  the  shiftless  habits 
of  the  people,  and  soon  become  as  poor  as  they  are. 

In  the  afternoon  we  took  a  volante,  and  drove  out  two  or  three 
miles  to  the  famous  Amistad  sugar  plantation.  We  hired  the  horse 
of  an  old  Frenchman,  who  had  been  one  of  Napoleon's  zneille  garde, 
and  is  covered  with  wounds  received  in  all  parts  of  Europe,  from 
Spain  to  Moscow.  He  preserves  his  old  arms  as  glorious  me- 
mentoes.* As  we  drove,  the  road  for  a  long  distance  was  through 
great  cane-fields  on  either  side,  farther  than  we  could  see,  over- 
topped in  places  by  most  beautiful  groves  of  the  royal  palm.  As  we 
approached  the  planter's  house,  we  saw  fifty  negroes,  more  women 
than  men,  cutting  the  cane  with  machetes,  while  a  long  train  of  carts 
carried  it  to  the  sugar-mill.  The  knife  used  is  like  our  bill-hook, 
except  that  it  is  straight  and  is  used  with  much  dexterity.      The 

*  In  \'isiting  Santo  Domingo  in  1871,  with  Dr.  Howe  and  Frederick  Douglass,  Dr.  A.  D.  White, 
since  ambassador  to  Germany  and  Russia,  found  there  a  still  earlier  French  survivor  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary and  Napoleonic  period,  an  aged   "  Theophilanthropist,"  who  dated  from  the  days  of  the 
Directory,  and  could  not  endure  to  live  under  the  Corsican  despot.     The  West  Indies  have  long  been 
the  nursery  or  the  retreat  of   French  persons  of  odd  types.     It  was  at  Martinique  that  Josephine 
Bonaparte  was  bom  and  first  married.     The  Ceiba  mentioned  below  as  simg  by  Dr.  Earle's  friend 
Whittier,  the  controversial  Quaker  poet,  was  introduced  by  him  in  his  poem,  written  shortly  before, — 
As  the  serpent-like  bejuco  winds  its  spiral,  fold  on  fold, 
Round  the  tall  and  stately  Ceiba,  till  it  withers  in  its  hold. 
So  a  base  and  bestial  nature  round  the  vassal's  manhood  twines,  etc. 


1852  209 

stalk  of  the  cane  is  cut  close  to  the  ground  at  one  blow,  and  its  top 
lopped  off  by  another.  A  second  negro  now  takes  it,  stripping  off 
the  leaves  and  throwing  it  on  a  pile.  A  third  takes  it  to  the  cart, 
while  a  fourth  loads  it, —  all  slaves,  I  suppose.  A  herd  of  oxen  follow 
the  cane-cutters,  eating  the  stripped  leaves ;  but  many  remain  on  the 
ground  as  manure  for  the  new  crop,  which  soon  springs  from  the 
roots  of  the  cane.  When  cut,  the  stalk  is  one  or  two  inches  thick, 
and  from  two  to  four  feet  long,  rarely,  five.  Its  whole  interior  is 
saturated  with  juice,  like  a  sponge  with  water.  This  is  sweet  as 
syrup,  very  luscious  for  a  time,  but  at  length  becomes  nauseous. 
The  negroes  like  it,  and  often  help  themselves  to  it  as  they  work. 

The  Amistad  cane-mill  is  driven  by  water.  It  consists  of  three 
iron  cylinders,  eight  feet  long  by  two  thick,  between  which  the  cane 
passes  only  once,  the  juice  running  almost  in  torrents  between  the 
lower  cylinders  into  a  tank,  from  which  it  is  forced  into  other  tanks, 
heated  and  clarified  with  lime.  It  then  runs  through  charcoal  filters, 
is  boiled  to  a  certain  density,  filtered  again,  and  then  boiled  till 
sugar  forms.  The  molasses  is  drained  out  by  whirling  it  swiftly  in 
metallic  tubs,  perforated  like  the  "  centrifugal  clothes-wringer,"  —  a 
recent  improvement,  which  does  in  ten  minutes  what  used  to  be  the 
work  of  ten  days.  Formerly  it  took  nearly  three  weeks  to  convert 
the  cane  into  sugar  for  the  market.  This  is  done  here  in  one  day 
now,  and  could  be  done  in  seven  hours.  The  old  story  of  Timothy 
Dexter  sending  out  warming-pans  from  Newburyport  for  the  Cuban 
winters,  which  the  delighted  planters  used  for  sugar-pans,  will  no 
longer  apply.  Mr.  Dodd,  of  Newark,  N.J.,  has  just  completed  a 
"  pan  "  (as  they  call  a  boiler),  which  will  save  much  labor,  facilitate 
sugar-making  still  more,  and  produce  a  much  whiter,  purer,  and 
more  perfectly  crystallized  sugar.  This  pan  is  in  use  here  at 
Amistad's,  and  is  the  only  sample  yet  made,  producing  lately  seven 
tons  of  sugar  in  one  day.  The  day  of  warming-pans  is  well  over, 
and  future  Dexters  will  not  make  fortunes  by  similar  blunders. 

February  20,  Cardenas. —  A  journey  of  sixty  miles  by  rail,  through 
a  country  more  fertile  than  any  yet  seen,  brought  us  from  Guines  to 
Cardenas.  On  this  route  we  first  saw  coffee  plantations  and 
frequent  orange  orchards.  In  the  forests  the  gigantic  Ceiba,  cele- 
brated by  Friend  Whittier,  was  abundant ;  and  some  species  of  the 
palm  were  noted  that  we  had  not  seen  before. 

Cardenas  is  a  seaport  on  the    northern   coast,  perhaps  seventy 


2IO  CARNIVAL    IN    CARDENAS 

miles  east  of  Havana.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  a  small  settlement, 
but  now  has  a  population  of  five  or  six  thousand.  Its  growth  has 
been  rapid,  and  it  may  become  a  rival  of  Havana  in  time.  The  first 
expedition  of  Narciso  Lopez  landed  here  last  year.  The  walls  of  the 
government  house,  burnt  by  him  or  his  followers,  still  stand  on  the 
plaza;  and  there  are  bullet-marks  on  our  hotel,  kept  by  Mrs.  Wood- 
bury, a  Portuguese  lady  from  Buenos  Ayres,  whose  husband  was  a 
cousin  of  Justice  Levi  Woodbury,  of  New  Hampshire.  In  his 
second  expedition,  sailing  from  New  Orleans  in  August  last  year, 
and  landing  at  Bahia  Honda,  Colonel  Crittenden,  an  American,  with 
fifty  of  his  captured  men,  was  shot  in  Havana,  near  which  he  was 
captured,  and  Lopez  himself  was  garroted. 

We  have  been  to-day  nearly  four  miles  out  of  town,  to  the  house 
of  Mr.  Phinney,  from  Massachusetts,  at  which  Miss  Bremer,  the 
Swedish  novelist,  passed  two  weeks,  when  she  was  in  Cuba  recently, 
and  where  she  sat  up  after  midnight  to  see  the  Southern  Cross,  a 
constellation  invisible  in  our  latitudes.  His  daughter.  Miss  Susan 
Phinney,  educated  in  New  England,  told  us  she  prefers  a  residence 
there,  principally  on  account  of  the  restrictions  imposed  on  women 
by  Spanish  customs.  She  and  a  young  lady,  a  visitor,  entertained 
us  in  a  parlor  whose  temperature  was  exquisitely  comfortable  and 
refreshing.  We  then  walked  in  the  garden,  examined  the  coffee- 
fields  and  the  process  of  hulling,  cleansing,  and  putting  up  coffee  for 
the  market,  and  after  two  hours  took  to  our  volante  again.  Our 
half-drunken  negro  calesero  (coachman),  with  his  three  braided-tailed, 
rib-showing-ready-for-the-crows-looking  horses  (as  a  German  might 
say),  harnessed  abreast,  the  middle  one  in  the  shafts,  and  the  others 
in  long  rope  traces  on  each  side,  mounted  the  left-hand  one,  whipped 
them  all,  and  drove  us  off.  We  returned  to  Mrs.  Woodbury's  over  a 
road  of  red  dust  as  fine  as  ashes,  and  as  adhesive  to  the  skin  as 
wax,  through  groves  of  palms  and  fields  of  cane. 

February  22,  Cardenas. —  Las  fiestas  reales,  the  royal  festivities, 
ordered  to  be  celebrated  for  three  days,  in  honor  of  the  birth  of 
the  Princess  of  Asturias,  daughter  of  the  Queen  of  Spain,  begin 
to-day.  The  doors  of  many  houses  are  bordered  with  palm-leaves ; 
and  arches  of  the  same,  wound  about  poles  of  bamboo,  span  the 
streets  in  places.  Early  this  morning  there  was  mass  at  the  church 
for  the  benefit  of  the  soldiers,  at  nine  a  grand  "  Te  Deum"  in  honor  of 
the  princess.     The  governor  of    Cardenas  and  his  military  officers. 


1852  211 

with  perhaps  a  hundred  other  men  and  two  hundred  women,  were 
present,  the  women  occupying  nearly  all  the  centre  of  the  church, — 
a  very  pretty  sight.  The  stone  floor  was  covered  with  rugs  of  all 
colors,  brought  from  private  houses.  On  these  were  the  two  hundred 
women,  some  kneeling,  many  sitting  Turkish  fashion,  and  a  very  few 
in  light  chairs,  brought  by  negro  servants.  The  old,  middle-aged, 
and  young, —  rich  and  poor,  white,  mulatto,  and  negro, —  were 
mingled  together  for  the  time  in  a  common  equality ;  for  they  were 
in  a  house  where  —  theoretically  and  so  far  practically  —  such  dis- 
tinctions are  not  recognized.  None  wore  hats  or  bonnets.  All  had 
the  transparent  black  veil,  sometimes  thrown  back  from  the  face. 
The  greater  part  were  wholly  in  black,  some  in  white,  a  few  in 
colors. 

For  an  account  of  what  followed  this  religious  ceremony  I  am  in- 
debted to  my  barber,  who  was  present.  "  About  noon,  accompanied 
by  a  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance,  I  went  to  see  the  favorite  sport 
of  the  Cubans,  a  cock-fight,  without  which  scarcely  a  Sabbath 
passes,  and  which  the  law  permits  only  on  Sundays  and  religious 
feast  days.  The  price  of  admission  was  '  two  strong  reals,'  what  you 
Yankees  call  a  '  quarter.'  We  found  the  sport  begun,  in  an  amphi- 
theatre, like  that  of  a  circus,  occupied  by  four  hundred  men  (boys 
are  not  admitted),  most  of  them  well  dressed,  and  many  belonging 
to  the  e/i'fe  of  Cardenas.  One  fight  was  nearly  over,  but  another 
soon  began.  Two  cocks,  one  black,  the  other  variegated,  were 
brought  in,  each  having  the  feathers  cut  from  his  back  and  breast, 
and  armed  with  natural  spurs  an  inch  or  more  long.  The  black 
cock  is  a  renowned  bird,  never  having  been  whipped,  and  now 
pitted  by  his  owner,  who  brought  him  in,  against  any  cock  on  the 
island.  A  rich  citizen  had  sent  to  a  distant  town  for  the  mottled 
cock  which  was  to  fight  this  champion,  and  betting  now  began.  At 
times  one  hundred  men  were  on  their  feet,  crying  out  their  bets, 
making  a  complete  bedlam.  Then  the  fight  began,  and  never  had  I 
seen  the  passions  so  strongly  depicted  on  the  human  countenance  as 
there.  For  a  while  the  combat  was  equal.  Then  the  variegated  bird 
seemed  to  have  the  advantage.  His  owner  rose,  and  bawled  out  that 
he  would  bet  a  hundred  'ounces,'  or  doubloons  ($1,700),  of  gold 
on  his  bird.  Bedlam  then  broke  loose  worse  than  ever,  but  no  one 
took  his  offer.  Bets,  however,  were  two  to  one  on  his  bird.  After  a 
while  the  tide  turned,  and   victory  favored    his  antagonist.     Black 


212  THE    BULL-FIGHT 

mustered  all  his  strength,  giving  his  opponent  heavy  blows  till  he 
slunk  away  to  the  side  of  the  pit,  hung  his  head,  and  would  fight  no 
longer.     Thus  Black  was  the  winner." 

Having  finished  his  account,  my  barber  leaned  back  in  his  rock- 
ing-chair, stroked  his  beard,  and  added,  "This  was  the  first  cock- 
fight I  ever  attended,  and  I  shall  never  go  to  another."  I  approved 
his  determination,  and  there  the  matter  ended.* 

For  a  description  of  some  of  the  proceedings  at  Cardenas,  after 
dinner,  I  am  indebted  to  an  American  physician  now  living  in  this 
city.  He  says :  "  About  5  p.m.  I  went  up  the  principal  street. 
The  sidewalks  were  thronged,  and  there  were  many  ladies  in  open 
volantes.  As  I  looked  up  the  street,  hundreds  of  large,  gay-colored 
Spanish  flags  met  the  eye,^ — almost  one  at  every  house.  House- 
fronts  were  adorned  with  yellow  and  red  drapery,  and  with  pictur- 
esque devices  for  the  coming  illumination.  Groups  of  persons, 
masked,  with  faces  and  forms  so  concealed  by  grotesque  gar- 
ments that  their  familiar  friends  would  not  know  them,  were 
amusing  each  other  in  various  ways.  Near  this  street  was  a  great 
open  space  (plaza),  towards  which  the  stream  of  people  seemed  to 
flow.  Some  two  thousand  had  already  assembled  there.  Near  the 
centre  of  the  plaza  was  a  bull,  his  horns  tied  to  a  long  rope,  which 
was  held  fast  at  the  other  side  of  the  square  by  a  dozen  men  ;  and 
the  crowd  was  endeavoring,  by  blows,  kicks,  and  red  cloths,  to 
enrage  him.  Sometimes  they  succeeded  ;  and  he  would  charge  upon 
them,  but  was  so  tethered  that  he  did  little  harm,  knocking  one  man 
down,  butting  another,  etc.  This  sport  was  kept  up  until  the  bull 
was  exhausted  and  fell.  Then  he  received  many  kicks  and  stamps  on 
his  head  and  body,  all  this  occasioning  much  hilarity  and  shouting 
among  the  spectators.  In  another  part  of  the  plaza  stood  a  greased 
pole,  thirty-five  feet  high,  with  a  doubloon  placed  at  its  top,  the  prize 
of  whoever  could  climb  and  take  it.  No  one  ventured  till  towards 
sunset,  when  some  Catalan  sailors  came  up  from  the  harbor  and 
tried  for  the  prize.     After  nearly  an  hour,  with  many  climbings  and 

•  It  may  be  observed  here  that  Dr.  Earle  was  his  own  barber,  that  he  was  the  "  American  physi- 
cian now  living,"  and  also  the  mysterious  "  man  who  was  in  Europe  when  I  was."  This  form  of  jest- 
ing was  a  habit  with  him  in  his  gayer  moods,  and  was  specially  strong  in  this  tour,  as  Mrs.  Spring, 
yet  living,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight,  has  written  me.  One  day,  she  says,  Dr.  Earle  was  at  the 
window,  looking  out,  when  he  suddenly  exclaimed,  "  Cousin  Rebecca,  here  comes  a  friend  in  need !  " 
She  hastened  to  the  window,  only  to  see  a  poor  club-footed,  "in-kneed"  man  walking  towards  the 
door.  Punning,  indeed,  in  its  many  forms,  was  carried  by  him  to  an  excess.  It  was  one  kind  of  the 
grammatical  exercise  in  which  he  long  delighted. 


1852  213 

slidings  down,  amid  great  laughter  of  the  multitude,  they  succeeded, 
by  putting  themselves  five  high  upon  each  other's  shoulders,  each 
clinging  to  the  pole." 

A  man  who  was  in  Europe  when  I  was  has  enabled  me  to  give  a 
partial  description  of  the  evening  entertainment.  I  could  myself  see 
from  the  hotel  the  illumination  of  the  barracks  and  the  church,  and 
the  lanterns,  one  or  more,  before  each  house  in  sight.  But  the  man 
says :  "  The  whole  of  the  principal  street  and  many  others  were  brill- 
iantly lighted  by  thousands  of  lamps.  There  were  many  inscriptions, 
—  'A  la  Reyna  Isabella'  and  'A  la  Princesa  de  Asturia.'  Nearly 
everybody,  to  judge  by  the  crowds,  was  in  the  streets.  A  great 
variety  of  maskers  was  seen,  and  all  appeared  to  be  enjoying  them- 
selves greatly.  A  masked  ball  at  the  theatre  was  attended  by  hun- 
dreds of  persons,  one-third  of  them  in  masks  and  fancy  dress.  One 
of  the  best  characters  was  an  aged  gentleman  'of  the  old  school,'  in 
cocked  hat  and  small-clothes,  with  big-buckled  shoes.  He  never 
forgot  his  part,  but  carried  it  with  the  skill  of  an  actor."  So  ended 
another  Sabbath,  and  the  record  of  it. 

February  23,  Matanzas. —  This  Monday  morning  we  left  Cardenas 
at  sunrise,  a  dense  fog  enveloping  us  till  eight  o'clock,  when  the  sun 
shone  forth  as  clear,  bright,  and  hot  as  on  a  first-rate  Leicester  hay- 
day.  We  went  back  thirty  miles  towards  Guines  ;  and  for  the  rest  of 
our  way  to  this  town  there  was  little  worthy  of  mention,  except  some 
coffee  plantations  with  the  shrub  in  full  bloom.  The  plants  were 
four  or  five  feet  high,  and  as  white  to-day  as  a  field  of  our  buck- 
wheat in  blossom.  At  Matanzas  we  took  rooms  at  the  hotel  of 
Madame  Mortie,  a  French  woman,  on  the  wharf  at  the  head  of  a  mag- 
nificent bay.  We  front  the  east,  and  look  out  on  the  waters  covered 
with  vessels,  the  hills  that  bound  the  bay,  and  the  many  pelicans 
sailing  now  in  air,  now  on  the  water,  and  ever  and  anon  diving  from 
the  wing,  with  the  speed  of  an  arrow,  upon  their  fishy  prey.  Oh,  it 
is  a  beautiful  country  for  a  lazy  man  (with  money  enough)  to  spend 
the  winter  in !  Glorious  sunsets,  balmy  breezes,  delicious  tempera- 
ture, flowery  fields,  nature's  luxuriance,  luxurious  indolence,  dolce  far 
niente,  otium  sine  dignitate, —  make  an  olla  podrida  of  these  and  other 
expressions  of  laziness,  beauty,  and  romance  ;  and  the  rich  man  has 
it  all  in  Cuba. 

North-west  of  Matanzas  is  a  series  of  hills,  to  the  top  of  which  I 
went  in  the  afternoon,  and  thence  looked  down  on  one  side  upon  the 


214  MATANZAS    IN    THE    CARNIVAL 

city  and  bay  stretched  out  before  us,  like  the  lower  lands  of  Paxton 
and  Leicester  viewed  from  Asnebumskit ;  *  while  on  the  other  side, 
beneath  a  precipice  several  hundred  feet  high,  lay  Yumuri,  the  most 
lovely  valley  in  Cuba.  Our  chief  inducement  to  visit  Matanzas  was 
to  see  this  vale,  which  quite  equals  the  expectation  we  had  of  it. 
I  remember  nothing  so  fine,  unless  it  were  Edale  in  English  Derby- 
shire, where  I  was  in  1837.  Yumuri  is  four  or  five  miles  long  and 
one  or  two  miles  wide,  nearly  level,  but  encircled,  except  in  a  gap 
just  wide  enough  for  a  stream  to  flow  out,  by  a  ridge  of  hills  varying 
from  two  hundred  to  five  hundred  feet  high.  Highly  cultivated,  it 
was  planted  with  the  peculiar  products  of  Cuba. 

The  royal  festival  was  going  on  here  as  at  Cardenas  ;  and,  as 
might  be  seen  from  the  date,  these  fiestas  were  appointed  for  the 
three  days  of  carnival  preceding  Lent,  in  order  to  make  the  show 
and  the  general  hilarity  greater.  In  the  afternoon  we  saw  a  sham 
fight,  in  which  six  or  eight  hundred  Spanish  troops  took  part.  In 
the  evening  the  illumination  was  general  and  very  brilliant ;  and 
everybody  who  was  not  at  a  ball,  a  music-party,  or  some  other  in- 
door festivity,  was  outdoors,  looking  on.  All  classes  of  society 
mingled  together  in  very  orderly  disorder.  More  than  five  hundred 
women  were  seated  on  the  benches  of  the  square ;  and  the  broad 
promenade,  on  one  side  bounded  by  those  benches,  contained  every 
moment,  between  eight  and  ten  o'clock,  twenty-five  hundred  or 
three  thousand  people.  Here  was  an  excellent  opportunity  to  see 
the  beauty  of  Matanzas,  where,  it  is  said,  there  is  more  feminine 
beauty  than  in  Havana.  Many  were  masked,  but  probably  not  the 
most  beautiful ;  for  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  natural  history  that 
very  handsome  women  are  the  least  disposed  to  wear  masks.  Those 
masked  were  mostly  dressed  in  white,  with  no  head-covering.  They 
carried  costly  fans,  which  they  so  manage  that  they  seem  as  much  a 
part  of  themselves  as  the  wings  are  of  a  bird.  Maskers,  both  men 
and  women,  are  privileged  persons.  They  do  what  they  please, 
speak  to  whom  they  choose,  and  say  what  comes  into  their  heads, 

*  This  uncouth  Indian  name,  as  often  mentioned,  designates  a  fine  hill  near  Leicester,  which  Dr. 
Earle  frequently  used  for  purposes  of  comparison  or  description,  wlien  writing  of  foreign  scenes,  as  he 
did,  for  instance,  in  explaining  the  face  of  the  country  between  Athens  and  Marathon,  when  he  rode 
through  it,  escaping  the  brigands,  in  1838.  He  seems  to  have  left  no  detailed  description  of  the  lovely 
Derbyshire  vale  which  he  saw  in  his  first  visit  to  England.  Marathon  made  a  profound  impression  on 
him,  as  on  most  who  see  that  famous  battle-plain;  and  there  is  a  good  plan  of  it,  and  of  Dr.  Earle's 
route  over  it,  preser\'ed  in  his  collection  of  autographs,  but  evidently  drawn  by  himself  soon  after  he 
spent  the  niglit  at  Souli,  overlooking  the  plain  from  the  side  opposite  Athens. 


1852  215 

all  speaking  in  a  peculiar  falsetto  rather  unpleasant  to  hear,  but 
serving  as  an  effectual  disguise  of  the  natural  voice.  They  tarry  at 
the  windows  of  even  the  best  houses,  chatting  with  the  young  ladies. 
Sometimes  they  go  in  and  sit  down  ;  and  in  one  house  we  saw  a 
genteel  circle  listening  to  their  piano  well  played  by  a  long-hooded 
white  domino,  looking  as  if  the  person  inside  were  shrouded  for  the 
coffin. 

February  24. —  This  is  the  last  day  of  carnival  and  iho.  fiestas. 
Parties  of  masked  men,  with  some  women,  have  been  through  the 
streets  of  Matanzas  this  afternoon ;  and  one  party  of  them  performed 
an  imitation  bull-fight  with  some  wit  and  spirit,  and  without  the 
cowardly  cruelty  of  the  bull-baiting  at  Cardenas.  Two  youths  had 
artificial  horse-bodies  so  attached  to  them  that,  with  short  artificial 
legs,  they  looked  much  like  boys  on  horseback.  These  were  picadors. 
Two  others  had  similar  bull-bodies,  and  several  harlequins  acted  as 
matadors.  Very  impressive  was  the  singular  contest  waged  between 
these  doughty  antagonists,  with  many  comico-tragical  incidents,  end- 
ing in  the  destruction  of  one  bull  by  knocking  his  brains  out,  which, 
however,  did  not  prevent  his  fighting  on  as  before. 

Towards  night  a  crowd  assembled  on  a  long  wharf  in  front  of  our 
hotel  to  witness  a  game  of  climbing  an  upright  pole,  on  which  was  a 
piece  of  gold  to  reward  the  successful  climber.  The  game  was  to 
walk  out  on  a  horizontal  pole  over  the  water,  and  thence  climb  a 
diagonal  rope  to  the  top  of  the  upright  pole  without  tumbling  into 
the  water,  on  which  were  hundreds  of  boats  filled  with  people. 
Those  who  climbed  got  more  ducks  than  gold.  Many  fell  into  the 
water,  amid  tumultuous  shouts  and  laughter ;  and  no  one  got  the 
prize.  Elsewhere  on  the  wharf  was  a  trial  of  jumping  for  ducks, — 
this  time  real  ones,  tied  to  a  rope  with  their  heads  hanging  down, 
and  both  head  and  neck  well  greased,  so  that,  unless  grasped  very 
firmly,  the  hand  would  slip.  Some  jumped,  and  could  not  reach  the 
bird.  Others  would  strike  his  bill,  causing  the  duck  to  draw  back 
the  head.  Finally,  a  man  grasped  the  head  of  one  ;  but  his  hold 
slipped,  and  he  came  down  with  nothing  but  a  handful  of  grease. 
Finally,  after  many  trials  and  some  artifice,  a  big-boned  man,  six 
feet  two  in  height,  holds  the  duck's  head  fast,  killing  the  bird,  jerks 
himself  up  and  down  to  break  the  string,  and  comes  down  at  last 
with  his  next  day's  dinner  in  his  hands,  amid  the  shouting  of  the 
crowd.  Verily,  man  "  is  a  rational  animal,  the  only  creature  endowed 
with  reason." 


2l6  LIFE    IN    CUBA 

February  29. —  We  left  Matanzas  on  the  26th,  returning  to  Havana, 
where  an  irregularity  in  my  passport,  caused  by  the  major-domo  of 
Mrs.  Almy's  hotel,  put  me  to  some  inconvenience  as  well  as  anxiety. 
But  it  enabled  me  to  have  an  interview  with  Don  Jose  de  la  Concha, 
governor  or  captain-general  of  the  island,  and  to  see  the  inside  of 
his  palace,  which  would  otherwise  have  been  denied  me.  There 
appeared  to  be  a  very  general  apprehension  of  further  invasion  of 
Cuba  from  the  United  States,  where,  I  was  told,  a  force  of  seventeen 
hundred  men  was  already  collected  on  the  coast  of  Alabama, 
expecting  to  sail  for  Cuba  in  April.  Those  Cubans  opposed  to 
annexation  look  forward  with  much  anxiety  to  our  Presidential  elec- 
tion this  year,  hoping  that  Daniel  Webster  may  be  chosen,  but  fear- 
ing it  may  be  General  Cass  or  General  Houston.*  The  South  is 
determined  to  have  Cuba,  Spain  equally  determined  we  shall  not 
have  it,  to  say  nothing  of  England  and  France. 

We  sailed  from  Havana  for  Savannah  by  way  of  Key  West  on  this 
day,  my  passport  having  been  satisfactorily  arranged.  Looking 
back,  a  few  reflections  occur  to  me.  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
life  and  property  are  more  secure  in  Havana  than  in  any  of  our 
American  cities.  The  night  police  is  very  efficient,  though  peculiarly 
armed.  Each  man  carries  a  long  spear,  a  sword,  a  pistol,  and  a 
whistle,  whose  shrill  sounds  are  heard  at  short  intervals  through 
the  night.  Perhaps  the  watchmen  blow  them  to  show  they  are  not 
asleep.  The  government  police  are  just  now  particularly  watch- 
ful in  regard  to  foreigners,  especially  Americans,  since  the  Lopez 
raids.  An  American  needs  to  be  cautious,  if  he  does  not  wish  to  be 
made  to  "  walk  Spanish."  But  the  Cubans  might  teach  us  some- 
thing of  politeness.  All  the  wheels  and  cogs  and  cranks  and  cams, 
and  all  other  parts  of  the  machinery  of  human  intercourse,  go  there 
as  smoothly  as  if  they  were  constantly  oiled.  The  graceful  bow  or 
wave  of  the  hand,  the  milk  gracias  (thousand  thanks),  and  many 
another  thing  as  trifling,  make  a  temporary  residence  among  such 
people  far  more  agreeable  than  it  would  be  if  they  had  the  cold 
manners  of  some  other  nations.  But  there  is  a  ludicrous  side  to  it. 
Now,  if  two  Worcester  County  men  should  meet  in  the  main  street  of 
their  county  capital,  one  with  a  lighted  cigar,  and  the  other  with  an 

*  As  we  know  now,  there  was  never  any  chance  for  the  election  of  Webster,  who  was  then  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  managed  the  Cuban  filibusters  very  well.  General  Scott  was  nominated  by  Web- 
ster's party,  but  defeated  by  General  Pierce,  of  New  Hampshire.  Webster  died  before  the  year 
closed. 


i8s2  217 

unlighted  one  (always  provided  the  law  did  not  forbid  smoking  in 
Worcester  streets),  and  if  one  should  ask  the  other  for  a  '•  light,'' 
and  get  one,  and  if,  in  doing  all  this,  those  two  men  should  go 
through  the  evolutions  of  two  Cubans  doing  the  like  in  Havana,  I 
shouldn't  be  surprised  if  the  nearest  constable  were  called  to  take 
them  off  as  soon  as  possible  to  the  Worcester  Limatic  Hospital. 

Publicit}^  is  the  rule  of  life  in  Cuba.  Many  of  the  artisans  work 
in  shops  flush  with  the  street,  so  that,  as  you  pass  along  the  side- 
walk, there  are  places  where  you  can  touch  a  half-dozen  shoemakers 
or  as  many  tailors  with  your  cane.  The  women  go  shopping  in 
their  volantes,  and,  instead  of  getting  out,  make  the  clerks  bring  the 
goods  to  be  examined  to  the  carriage. —  no  great  inconvenience,  to 
be  sure ;  for,  what  with  the  narrow  sidewalk  and  the  shallow  shop. 
the  counter  is  not  often  more  than  eight  or  ten  feet  from  the  zolanu. 
Although  Spanish  customs  condemn  women  to  a  life  of  comparative 
seclusion  (only  allowing  them  to  walk  in  the  street  at  special  times, 
and  then  accompanied  either  by  brothers,  husbands,  or  parents), 
yet  nowhere  else  that  I  have  travelled  is  their  domestic  life  so  much 
exposed  to  the  public  as  in  Cuba.  Their  parlors  are  always  next  the 
street  and  the  windows  are  so  large  and  so  readily  looked  in  at 
(not  being  glazed)  that  every  article  of  furniture  and  every  person  in 
the  room  is  as  plainly  seen  from  the  sidewalk  as  from  the  inside. 
The  window  shutters  are  mostly  kept  closed  in  the  forenoon:  but 
by  2  or  3  P.M.,  when  the  young  ladies  are  all  nicely  dressed,  and 
ready  to  see  and  be  seen,  they  are  opened.  The  ladies,  if  not  more 
than  two,  sit  or  stand  so  near  the  windows  that  as  you  pass  them 
on  the  narrow  sidewalk,  you  would  brush  against  their  cloches,  were 
it  not  for  the  iron  mndow  bars.  The  chairs,  mostly  arm-chairs,  are 
set  in  parallel  rows  each  side  of  the  window  or  windows.  In  the 
parlors  of  the  poorer  people  there  is  often  but  one  window;  and  in 
nine-tenths  of  them  you  will  see  sis  chairs  thus  placed,  three  on  each 
side.  When  there  are  visitors,  the  people  of  the  house  sit  in  those 
nearest  the  wall,  and  their  guests  in  the  others.  No  matter  how 
large  the  social  party,  they  are  all  seated  in  this  way.  Each  guest 
can  thus  look  out  of  the  window,  and  can  be  seen  by  all  who  pass 
along  the  street  Often,  of  an  afternoon.  I  have  seen  the  ladies  of  a 
family  seated  by  one  window,  and  their  negro  servants  lounging  at 
the  other. 

.\mong  thousands  of  women  whom  I  saw  in  these  parlors.  I  do 


2l8  CUBA    IN    1852 

not  recall  an  instance  in  which  one  of  them  was  either  working  or 
reading.  They  sit  in  idleness  to  gaze  and  be  gazed  at.  A  Cuban 
lady  is  about  as  useless  as  can  be  imagined.  All  work  is  derogatory, 
fit  only  for  slaves,  and  hence  is  rejected.  Eating,  drinking,  sleeping, 
dressing,  and  driving  out  are  their  methods  of  killing  time.  But 
some  Yankees  know  how  to  make  them  pay  for  their  idleness. 
An  American  mantua-maker,  who  did  some  work  for  Mrs.  Spring, 
said  that  her  net  profits  on  the  dresses  made  at  her  shop  for  a  single 
party  were  $600. 

March  2. —  We  reached  Key  West  on  the  "Isabel"  at  5  p.m.  on 
the  29th,  and  remained  four  hours  looking  about  the  town,  as  well  as 
over  it,  from  the  top  of  structures  erected  as  lookouts  for  wrecked 
vessels.  Our  whole  voyage  from  First  Day  morning  to  Third  Day 
evening  was  the  very  perfection  of  sea  travel ;  the  temperature  that 
of  a  New  England  July,  modified  by  the  sea-breezes  ;  the  sky  almost 
without  a  cloud ;  the  water  calm  as  a  mill-pond ;  the  moon,  almost 
at  its  first  quarter,  giving  sufficient  light  for  evenings ;  and  last, 
though  not  least,  an  agreeable  company  of  passengers.  With  all 
these,  who  could  not  make  a  pleasant  voyage  ?  I  landed  at 
Savannah,  leaving  my  cousins,  whom  I  rejoined  at  Charleston. 

March  8,  Philadelphia. —  We  spent  one  day  in  Charleston,  and 
then  came  on  to  Richmond.  There  on  the  6th  (First  Day  evening) 
I  took  the  cars  for  Washington,  leaving  Marcus  and  Rebecca  at 
Richmond,  and  arrived  here  at  noon.     So  end  my  notes  on  Cuba. 

At  the  time  of  Dr.  Earle's  sojourn  in  Cuba,  its  45,000  square 
miles  contained  about  1,200,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  more 
than  300,000  were  slaves.  The  slave-trade  was  in  vigorous 
activity,  in  spite  of  treaties  and  armed  squadrons ;  and  nearly 
5,000  slaves  in  a  year  were  brought  over  from  Africa.  Its  finan- 
cial prosperity  was  great.  It  had  doubled  its  population  in 
thirty  years,  sugar  was  in  demand,  wealth  was  increasing,  and 
there  was  no  great  wish  for  independence  or  for  annexation  to 
the  United  States,  whose  slaveholding  rulers  then  desired  to 
extend  our  national  area  of  slavery  by  purchasing  or  conquer- 
ing it.  President  Polk  had  offered  Spain  $100,000,000  for 
Cuba  in  1848.  In  1854  Mr.  Buchanan,  afterwards  President, 
joined   Mason,  of   Virginia,    and    Soule,  of    Louisiana,    in    the 


1852  219 

notorious  Ostend  manifesto,  in  which  they  declared  that  Cuba 
ought  to  belong  to  the  United  States,  and  that,  should  Spain 
be  so  wicked  as  to  free  the  Cuban  slaves,  our  country  ought  to 
take  the  island  by  force.  Ten  years  later  President  Lincoln 
freed  the  American  slaves,  and  this  led  to  legal  though  partial 
emancipation  in  Cuba  in  1870.  Since  then  the  island  has 
been  in  insurrection  half  the  time,  and  has  now  been  largely 
depopulated  and  financially  ruined  by  the  attempts  of  Spain  to 
put  down  the  rebellion.  There  could  scarcely  be  a  greater 
contrast  between  the  idle  and  gay  Cuba  of  1852  and  the 
tormented  and  decimated  Cuba  of  1898. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

NEW    YORK    AND    WASHINGTON. 

From  Cuba  Dr.  Earle  returned  to  Leicester,  where  he  had 
the  care  of  an  invalid  brother,  and  where  his  housekeeper  was 
his  sister  Lucy,  for  whom  in  her  disappointed  life  he  tenderly 
cared;  but  later  in  1852,  he  established  himself  in  New  York 
for  a  time.  There  he  was  consulted  in  cases  of  insanity,  and 
often  gave  expert  evidence  in  the  courts.  His  acquaintance  with 
the  City  Lunatic  Asylum  and  his  official  connection  as  visitor 
gave  him  a  continuing  interest  in  its  fortunes,  especially  after  its 
old  "mad-house"  (which  he  compared  for  unfitness  with  the 
Timar-hane  of  Stamboul  and  the  Munich  place  of  torture)  had 
been  replaced,  under  Dr.  Moses  Ranney,  by  a  better  building. 
In  1856,  while  collecting  facts  for  his  statistical  work  in  the 
Philadelphia  Quarterly,  he  got  from  Dr.  Ranney  figures  show- 
ing how  extreme  had  been  the  mortality  at  Blackwell's  Island 
in  the  worst  years, —  a  fact  which  he  often  mentioned  afterwards, 
and  particularly  when  in  1876  I  was  carrying  on  an  inquiry 
into  the  neglect  and  death-rate  of  the  insane  poor  in  the 
Tewksbury  State  Almshouse,  an  affair  in  which  he  took  great 
interest.* 

•  An  abstract  of  these  statistics  used  by  Dr.  Earle  will  be  useful  for  contrast  with  the  later  figures 
of  the  much  enlarged  and  dispersed  insane  asylums  of  New  York  City,  now  classed  together  as  the 
Manhattan  State  Hospital,  but  lacking  much  of  the  hospital  character  from  constant  overcrowding. 
Dr.  Ranney,  who  took  charge  in  1847,  thus  reports  the  years:  — 

IVhole  No. 
Years.  Patients.         Admitted.       Recovered.  Died.         Remaining. 

1847 779  396  146  '53  364 

1848 855  491  163  1 16  437 

1849 896  459  170  212  401 

1850 792  39'  «54  77  464 

1851 905  441  '97  80  5'7 

1852 1,012  495  234  '3°  527 

1853 i,o'4  4S7  2SS  "S  542 

1854 1,028  486  180  190  555 

'855 926  37'  "94  'oo  573 

1856 939  366  174               ^  597 

10  years,  average  and  totals  .  915  4.383  ',867  1,239  481 

Thus  it  seems  that  in  ten  years,  with  4,766  cases  (383  remaining  from  1846),  the  average  recoveries 
were  187,  and  the  average  of  deaths  124, —  a  yearly  excess  of  recoveries  of  63  ;  and  even  in  the  cholera 
years,  1849  and  1854,  the  deaths  were  but  52  more  than  the  recoveries ;  while  of  late  years  the  deaths 


1852-1861  221 

Dr.  Earle's  services  as  a  medical  expert  in  disputed  cases  of 
homicide,  bequest,  etc.,  were  many  and  important,  from  1852 
onwards.  In  the  trial  of  John  M,  Thurston  for  murder  at 
Ithaca,  N.Y.,  in  1853,  he  testified  to  the  fact  of  insanity;  and 
the  defendant  was  finally  acquitted  on  this  ground.  Thirty- 
five  years  later  another  trial  for  murder  occurred  in  the  same 
county,  that  of  Richard  Barber, —  a  very  peculiar  case,  in 
which  Dr.  Earle  took  much  interest,  though  he  had  then  (in 
1888)  practically  ceased  to  give  evidence.*  While  he  was 
thus  called  upon,  he  testified  in  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut,  and  was  one  of  the  many 
experts  who  gave  their  opinion  at  the  trial  of  Guiteau  for 
the  assassination  of  President  Garfield  in  188 1.  In  the  case  of 
Willard  Clark,  tried  at  New  Haven  in  1855  for  the  murder  of 
R.  W.  Wight,  the  three  experts  who  testified  to  his  insanity 
were  Dr.  Earle  and  his  two  contemporaries,  a  little  older  than 
himself,  Dr.  Isaac  Ray,  then  of  Providence,  and  Dr.  J.  S. 
Butler,  of  Hartford.  The  verdict  of  acquittal,  based  on  this 
testimony,  was  directly  opposed  to  prevailing  public  opinion 
in  New  Haven;  but  its  justice  was  proved  by  the  event. 
Several  years  later  his  insanity  was  again  tested  in  the  Con- 
necticut court.  He  was  remanded  to  the  Wethersfield  prison, 
and  thence  sent  to  the  Middletown  Insane  Hospital,  where  he 
died. 

As  illustrating  the  character  of  another  expert,  Dr.  Brigham, 
of  Utica,  the  following  incident  is  related  by  Dr.  Stephen 
Smith,  of  New  York  :  — 

I  happened  to  be  present,  as  a  lad,  at  the  trial  of  Freeman,  a 
negro  homicide,  and  sat  among  the  audience  in  a  sort  of  amphi- 
theatre, with  the  court  and  bar  below,  when  an  extraordinary  event 
occurred.  John  Van  Buren,  son  of  the  President,  was  the  attorney- 
general,  and  was  prosecuting  the  case  against  Freeman,  whom  Gov- 
ernor Seward  was  defending  on  a  plea  of  insanity.     A  chief  witness 

largely  exceed  recoveries.  In  seven  years,  1S90-97,  the  whole  number  averaging  7,362,  and  the 
admissions  1,600,  the  recoveries  reported  were  but  1,269,  while  the  deaths  were  4,310, —  more  than 
threefold.     This  confirms  Dr.  Earle's  preference  for  small  asylums. 

*  Barber  was  a  young  Englishman  from  the  little  parish  of  Billingboro,  in  Lincolnshire,  who  came 
of  an  epileptic  family,  and,  in  the  unconsciousness  of  the  epileptic  furor,  killed  one  of  his  best  friends, 
an  aged  English  woman,  at  Trumansburg,  near  Cornell  University. 


22  2  DR.   BRIGHAM    AND    JOHN    VAN    BUREN 

for  the  defence  was  Dr.  Brigham,  of  the  Utica  Asylum,  then  at  the 
height  of  his  reputation  as  an  expert  in  lunacy.  He  had  seen  and 
examined  Freeman,  and  testified  that  he  was  insane ;  and  Van 
Buren  was  seeking  to  break  down  his  evidence  by  cross-examination, 
"  How  did  you  decide  that  he  was  insane,  doctor  ?  Was  it  by  look- 
ing at  his  face } "  ''  That  was  one  thing,"  said  Dr.  Brigham. 
"  Did  you  think  him  insane  by  looking  at  his  nose  ?  "  *'  No."  "  At 
his  mouth.?"  "Not  entirely."  "At  his  eyes?"  "The  eye  is  a 
very  expressive  feature,  indicative  of  the  mind ;  but  I  did  not  judge 
altogether  by  that.  I  took  all  the  features  into  consideration." 
"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  this  jury  that  you  can  decide  whether  a  man 
is  crazy  by  looking  at  him  ? "  "I  have  sometimes  done  so." 
"Will  you,  then,  look  through  this  large  audience,  and  pick  out 
some  one  as  insane,  from  the  looks  of  his  face  ? "  "  That  would 
be  difficult."  "  From  your  testimony  it  would  not  be  difficult  for 
you,  and  I  insist  that  you  shall  make  the  test."  "  Very  well,"  said 
Dr.  Brigham,  quite  composed,  erect,  and  impressive ;  and  he  began 
to  point  his  hand  towards  the  benches,  moving  it  as  he  passed  from 
one  section  to  another,  and  searching  all  our  faces  with  his  keen 
eye.  My  own  heart  beat  fast  as  he  came  near  me  with  his  search, 
for  fear  he  should  pronounce  me  crazy  ;  but  he  passed  my  section 
by,  and  had  gone  past  the  middle  of  the  benches,  when  he  suddenly 
stopped,  raised  his  long  arm,  pointed  his  long  finger  at  a  man  in 
one  of  the  upper  seats,  and  said  very  gravely,  "That  man  is  in- 
sane." Instantly  the  man  sprang  from  his  seat,  angry  and  swearing, 
and  rushed  down  towards  the  bench  and  bar,  crying  :  "  You  lie  !  I 
am  not  crazy,"  with  other  manifestations  of  mania.  The  judge  rose 
from  the  bench;  Mr.  Van  Buren  jumped  on  a  chair;  Dr.  Brigham 
stood  still,  fixing  his  eye  on  the  madman.  The  sheriffs  rushed  in, 
seized  the  shouting  maniac,  and  the  court  adjourned  in  great  agita- 
tion. The  cross-examination  of  Dr.  Brigham  broke  down,  and  Mr. 
Seward  won  his  case.  But  Van  Buren  insinuated  next  day  that 
Governor  Seward  had  placed  a  madman  in  the  audience  for  the 
purpose  of  having  such  a  scene. 

While  Dr.  Earle  was  in  Carolina  and  Cuba,  his  friend  and 
successor  at  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum  became  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  establishment  of  a  hospital  for  the  insane  at  the 
seat  of  government;  and  in  August,  1852,  Congress  made  the 


1852-1861  223 

first  appropriation  for  a  Government  Hospital  for  the  Insane  in 
Washington.  A  few  months  later  Dr.  Nichols  was  appointed 
superintendent  there,  and  early  in  1855  a  section  of  the  build- 
ings was  opened  under  his  charge.  He  naturally  invited  Dr. 
Earle  to  visit  him,  and  profited  by  his  experience.  The  first 
visit  was  late  in  February,  1856,  during  the  administration  of 
President  Pierce,  of  New  Hampshire,  and  when  General  Banks, 
of  Massachusetts,  was  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, in  a  very  agitated  session  of  Congress.  Dr.  Earle,  who 
had  seen  every  President  since  Monroe,  and  had  often  visited 
the  White  House,  took  the  first  opportunity  to  pay  his  re- 
spects to  the  New  Hampshire  President.  His  diary  says 
{Feb.  21,  1856):  — 

I  came  to  Washington  from  Philadelphia,  where  I  had  visited  my 
sister  and  other  kindred,  and  met  many  old  friends.  Was  met  at  the 
station  by  Dr.  Nichols,  who  took  me  to  this  hospital,  two  and  a  half 
miles  from  the  Capitol,  and  gave  me  a  very  comfortable  room,  over- 
looking almost  the.  whole  of  the  city, — the  Capitol,  White  House, 
Washington  Monument,  etc.  He  has  less  than  100  patients,  a  farm 
of  195  acres  on  the  Potomac,  south  of  the  Capitol,  on  which  last 
year  grew  1,000  bushels  of  peaches.  The  river  is  still  covered  with 
ice.  Among  the  animals  kept  are  two  Arabian  horses,  descended 
from  the  Arabian  sent  to  President  Van  Buren,  about  the  time  of  my 
return  from  Europe,  a  big  and  jolly  Rocky  Mountain  bear,  two 
monkeys,  a  deer,  a  wildcat,  a  fox,  a  raccoon,  and  two  parrots. 

February  22,  Washington's  Birthday. —  This  evening  I  went  with 
Dr.  Nichols  to  a  reception  at  the  White  House.  Shook  hands  with 
the  President,  bowed  very  low  to  Mrs.  President,  talked  with  Lieu- 
tenant Maury  and  a  Congressman  from  Maine,  looked  up  to  General 
Houston,  senator  from  Texas,  six  feet  two  in  height,  saw  Speaker 
Banks,  and  should  have  been  introduced  to  him,  had  he  not  been 
at  the  time  gallanting  a  young  lady  round  the  East  Room  in  the 
promenade.  We  were  crowded  by  five  hundred  people,  and  gazed 
at  many  silks,  satins,  laces,  flounces,  low  necks,  and  bare  shoulder- 
blades. 

Saturday,  February  23. —  Drove  to  Washington  with  Dr.  Nichols, 
to  call  on  several  Congressmen  on  business  of  the  hospital ;  but,  the 


224  WASHINGTON    IN    1856 

day  being  fine,  none  were  at  home.  We  found  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  Mr.  J.  C.  Dobbin,*  of  North  Carolina,  in  his  office, —  a  small, 
meagre,  delicate-looking  man,  with  a  large  head  and  a  small,  soft 
hand  and  a  voice  hoarse  and  feeble, —  the  effect  of  bronchitis.  At 
the  National  Observatory  we  examined  all  the  instruments,  and  had 
a  long,  interesting  talk  with  Lieutenant  Maury,  the  director,  famous 
throughout  the  world  for  his  discoveries  in  regard  to  the  wind  and 
the  currents  of  the  ocean,  their  laws,  direction,  etc.  These  discov- 
eries are  estimated  to  have  saved  $10,000,000  a  year  to  the  mer- 
chants and  ship-owners  of  Great  Britain  alone.  He  gave  me  a 
chart  he  had  just  finished,  of  the  winds  and  weather  of  the  whole 
Atlantic,  made  from  an  analysis  of  observations  covering  165,000 
daj's,  in  all  parts  of  that  ocean.  It  seems  that  the  atmosphere  is 
more  unstable  in  the  Northern  than  in  the  Southern  Atlantic, —  we 
having  more  calms,  more  gales,  more  fogs,  more  rains,  and  more 
thunder  than  they  do  farther  south.  In  the  latitude  of  Massachu- 
setts, by  this  chart,  there  will  be  in  January  4  calm  days,  27  gales, 
13  rainy  days,  2  foggy  ones,  and  i  thunder-storm;  in  February  6 
calm  days,  in  March  only  3  ;  but  there  will  be  16  rainy  days  and  6 
foggy  ones,  with  only  16  gales.  At  the  War  Office  I  was  introduced 
to  Dr.  Wood,  an  army  surgeon,  nephew  of  the  late  President  Taylor, 
and  resembling  him  enough  to  have  been  his  son.  We  visited  the 
Washington  Monument,  which  has  reached  a  height  of  170  feet.  It 
is  to  be  518  feet,  just  a  leet/e  higher  than  any  other  artificial  struct- 
ure in  the  world,  except  the  Great  Pyramid.  But  I  am  incUned  to 
think  it  will  not  be  completed  in  my  day.  The  "  Know-nothings  " 
got  the  management  of  it  about  a  year  ago,  and  were  to  finish  it 
immediately ;  but  hitherto  they  have  not  laid  a  stone. 

"  Know-nothing "  was  the  name  colloquially  given  to  the 
short-lived  "American"  party,  organized  in  1854,  in  secret, 
oath-bound  societies,  the  members  of  which,  when  questioned, 
"  knew  nothing  "  about  it.  By  this  party  a  great  many  Con- 
gressmen had  been  elected,  among  them  Mr.  Banks,  the 
Speaker,  who  was  at  this  very  time  a  prominent  candidate  of 
that  party  for  President  in  the  election  of  November,  1856. 
He  was  nominated,  but  declined  in  favor  of  Fremont,  the 
Republican,  who  was  defeated  by  James  Buchanan,  of 
Pennsylvania. 

*  A  good  friend  of  Miss  Dix ;  see  her  Life. 


1852-1861  225 

Sunday,  February  24. — Accompanied  Dr.  Nichols  to  the  small 
Unitarian  church,  and  there  heard  a  most  excellent  sermon  from 
Moncure  Daniel  Conway,  a  young  Virginian,  lately  in  the  Divinity 
School  at  Harvard  College,  of  apparently  great  intellect  and  origi- 
nality. The  sermon  aimed  to  maintain  the  rights  of  the  individual, 
his  supremacy  within  those  rights,  over  all  associations, —  a  pro- 
gressive sermon,  it  would  usually  be  called.  He  claimed  that  every 
man  should  lay  aside  all  precedents,  discard  the  ideas  and  conven- 
tionalities of  his  predecessors,  rid  himself  of  his  own  prejudices,  and 
boldly  think  for  himself,  arraigning  nations  and  their  institutions 
before  the  tribunal  of  his  own  soul,  and  judge  of  them  by  the  stand- 
ard of  conscience  and  the  "  light  within."  *  Among  the  audience 
were  John  P.  Hale,  senator  from  New  Hampshire,  and  Mr.  Seaton, 
partner  of  the  English  publisher,  Joseph  Gales,  of  the  well-known 
firm  of  Gales  &  Seaton,  of  the  Natiojial  Bitelligencer.  Mr.  Webb, 
a  young  lawyer,  related  to  James  Watson  Webb  of  the  New  York 
Courier  and  Enquirer,  drove  home  with  us,  and  dined  at  the  hospi- 
tal, where  we  passed  a  very  sociable  afternoon. 

February  25. —  After  a  call  on  a  former  pupil  of  mine  at  Provi- 
dence, Dr.  Daniel  Breed,  who  was  afterwards  a  pupil  of  Liebig  in 
Germany,  and  is  now  an  examiner  in  the  Patent  OfRce,  I  went  to  the 
Senate  Chamber,  where  a  speech  was  expected  from  Senator  Jones 
of  Tennessee.  The  galleries  were  crowded,  so  that  I  could  only 
reach  the  outside  of  the  doorway ;  but,  waiting  patiently,  I  got  in  at 
last,  among  a  crowd  as  dense  as  the  Leicester  sheep  used  to  be  in 
our  stable  at  shearing-time,  and  I  looked  down  on  the  assembled 
wisdom  of  the  nation.  I  recognized  Houston  of  Texas,  Cass  of 
Michigan  (my  Paris  acquaintance  of  1838),  Seward  of  New  York, 
Hale  of  New  Hampshire,  Charles  Sumner  and  Henry  Wilson  of 
Massachusetts ;  but  no  one  pointed  out  to  me  the  other  senators. 
Jones  was  speaking  on  the  admission  of  Kansas,  without  slavery,  in 

*  As  a  follower  of  Fox  and  Penn,  this  was  acceptable  doctrine  to  Dr.  Earle  in  its  religious  aspect ; 
but  he  was  hardly  ready  to  go  so  far  in  political  and  social  radicalism  as  this  young  Virginian,  the  friend  of 
Emerson  and  Theodore  Parker,  and  afterwards  of  Carlyle  and  Browning,  during  his  long  residence  in 
London  as  the  successor  of  William  J.  Fox  at  the  South  Place  Chapel.  He  did  not  remain  long  in 
Washington,  then  had  a  church  at  Cincinnati,  which  di\aded  in  1862,  and  Mr.  Conway  came  to 
Concord,  INIass.,  whence  early  in  1S63  he  went  to  England.  He  now  lives  in  New  York.  Mr. 
Hale  and  the  other  senators  named  below  were  friends  of  Mr.  Conway  (most  of  them),  and  often 
heard  him  preach.  Mr.  Hale  had  been  in  the  Senate  nearly  ten  years,  where  he  was  the  first  dis- 
tinctly anti-slavery  senator,  but  was  re-enforced  in  1849  and  subsequent  years  by  Chase  of  Ohio, 
Seward,  Sumner,  and  Wilson,  and  many  others.  His  son-in-law,  Mr.  Chandler,  is  now  a  senator 
from  New  Hampshire. 


226  POLITICAL    DISSENSIONS 

answer  to  a  speech  by  Wilson  a  few  days  ago.  He  took  the  Southern 
view  of  the  question  with  energy  and  eloquence  for  about  three 
hours.  Some  remark  of  his  called  up  Hale,  who  spoke  as  ener- 
getically and  eloquently  for  twenty  minutes,  and  at  adjournment 
gave  notice  that  he  would  answer  Mr.  Jones  at  length  on  Thursday. 
Strong  language  was  used  on  both  sides,  and  there  were  sallies  of 
wit  by  both  senators.  Had  a  foreigner,  unversed  in  our  politics, 
listened,  he  would  have  carried  away  a  fear  that  everybody  in  this 
country  is  going  to  kill  every  other  body  in  course  of  a  few  days. 
I  walked  back  to  the  hospital,  to  find  refuge  with  the  insane  —  who 
don't  talk  so. 

February  26. —  In  the  afternoon  of  this  Tuesday  (the  day  when 
the  wives  of  the  cabinet  officers  receive  calls  each  week)  I  called 
with  Dr.  Nichols  at  Mr.  McClelland's,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
under  whose  jurisdiction  is  the  hospital,  and  from  whom  Dr.  Nichols 
receives  his  appointment.  We  were  received  by  Mrs.  McClelland, 
her  very  handsome  niece,  and  a  young  lady  from  Baltimore.  I  had 
seen  the  young  ladies  before,  at  the  hospital,  whither  they  came  with 
the  Secretary  the  day  I  reached  Washington.  Mrs.  McClelland  is 
from  WilHamstown,  Mass.,  but  has  long  lived  in  Michigan,  where 
her  husband  has  been  governor.  We  took  tea  at  Dr.  Breed's,  the 
only  guest  besides  ourselves  being  a  handsome,  bright-eyed,  intel- 
lectual-looking Miss  Coues  from  Portsmouth,  N.H.,  whose  father, 
Samuel  E.  Coues,  author  of  a  queer  book  about  the  planetary  system, 
is  employed  in  the  Patent  Office.*  To-day  the  ice  in  the  Potomac 
is  still  unbroken,  though  much  softened ;  but  the  snow  has  mostly 
gone,  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue  is  slightly  dusty. 

February  28. —  I  went  to  the  Senate  Chamber,  crowded  almost  to 
suffocation  in  the  galleries,  and  listened  to  a  speech  of  nearly  two 
hours,  on  the  Kansas  question,  by  John  P.  Hale,  of  a  higher  degree 
of  eloquence  than  I  had  believed  him  capable.  He  was  followed,  on 
the  other  side,  by  Senator  Robert  Toombs  of  Georgia,  one  of  the 
most  able  and  eloquent  members  of  the  Senate,  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  him  by  those  who  dislike  his  view  of  slavery.  I  had 
previously  met  the  architect  of  the  Capitol  extension,  and  examined 
his  plans.  If  completed  as  now  designed,  we  shall  have  one  Ameri- 
can building  (the  first)  to  compare  with  the  palaces  and  public 
buildings  of  Europe. 

"  Father  of  the  present  Professor  Coues. 


1852-1861  227 

Thus  the  diary  continues,  with  calls  in  the  city,  speeches  in 
the  Senate  and  House  on  some  phase  of  the  Kansas  question, 
visits  of  Congressmen  and  others  to  the  hospital,  dinner  parties, 
receptions  at  the  White  House  and  elsewhere,  and  remarks  on 
the  weather  and  passing  events.  It  was  a  winter  ot  unusual 
severity,  snow  and  frost  continuing  until  late  March,  and 
the  ice  in  the  great  Potomac  lingering  a  month  longer  than 
common.  He  hears  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  "the  little  giant," 
speak  on  the  Kansas  issue  which  Douglas  himself  brought  upon 
the  country,  and  which  nothing  but  the  Civil  War  could  finally 
settle.  He  goes  to  the  sermons  of  Mr.  Conway,  and  meets  him 
at  a  hospital  dinner,  with  this  comment  in  the  diary  :  — 

Sunday,  March  23. —  We  drove  to  hear  Mr.  Conway's  sermon 
to-day ;  and  he  came  home  with  us,  dined,  and  passed  the  afternoon. 
He  is  as  interesting  in  conversation  as  in  the  pulpit,  a  man  of 
superior  intellect  and  of  moral  qualities  of  a  very  high  order ;  yet 
his  religion  is  that  of  the  extreme  Unitarians,  or  nearly  so.  He  says 
he  believes  in  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  not  in  his  Deity. 
Neither  does  he  believe  in  the  miracles.  Among  his  reasons  for  this 
disbelief  he  alleges  that  not  one  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
was  written  until  fifty  years  or  more  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  and 
long  after  his  death, —  time  enough,  he  thinks,  for  a  story  to  grow 
considerably,  if  stories  grew  then  as  rapidly  as  now.  He  questions 
that  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  and  John  were  the  authors  of  the  four 
Gospels.  Indeed,  the  book  of  Matthew,  he  says,  bears  internal 
evidence  of  having  been  written  by  four  different  men,  containing 
four  styles  of  composition,  each  as  different  from  either  of  the  others 
as  the  style  of  Webster  differs  from  that  of  Henry  A.  Wise,  of 
Virginia.  This  heterodoxy  of  his  does  not  divide  his  church  so 
much  as  his  anti-slavery  sermons,  which  please  Horace  Greeley  and 
Senator  Hale,  both  of  whom  I  have  seen  there.  But  nine  families 
have  withdrawn  because  of  one  anti-slavery  sermon. 

At  this  time  Dr.  Earle's  theological  opinions  were  hardly  so 
positive  as  Mr,  Conway's,  on  one  side,  or  those  of  the  Gurney- 
ite  branch  of  the  Quakers,  on  the  other.  He  had  not  joined  in 
the  Hicksite  schism,  mentioned  in  a  former  chapter,  though  his 
opinions  must  have  inclined  that  way.     Soon  after  leaving  the 


228  SECTS    AMONG    THE    QUAKERS 

hospital,  where  he  had  this  conversation  with  Mr.  Conway,  he 
was  present  in  Philadelphia  at  Yearly  Meeting,  and  in  his  diary 
thus  expresses  himself  on  the  points  of  difference  in  the  Society 
of  Friends  :  — 

It  appears  to  me  that  the  "  Wilburites  "  in  this  Yearly  Meeting  are 
just  about  the  same  in  opinion  that  Moses  Brown,  of  Providence, 
Elisha  Thornton,  and  David  Buffum,  Sr.,  were  forty  years  ago,  and 
what  the  "Body  of  Friends"  were  in  1826.  The  Hicksites  have 
gone  off  towards  Unitarianism  :  the  Gurneyites  (followers  of  Joseph 
John  Gurney,  of  England)  have  gone  and  are  going  off  towards  all 
forms  of  what  is  called  Orthodoxy, —  Episcopalianism,  Trinitarianism, 
Presbyterianism.  But  the  Wilburites  wage  the  war  rather  too  bit- 
terly. They  are  too  intolerant  and  denunciatory  to  comport  with  my 
idea  of  Christianity.  They  are  at  one  extreme  in  this  meeting,  the 
Gurneyites  at  the  other.  And  there  are  middlemen  who  will  urge  a 
temporizing  course.  If  there  be  a  split,  it  will  be  from  the  secession 
of  the  Gurneyites,  who,  being  by  far  the  weaker  party  in  Phila- 
delphia, will  have  to  leave  the  books  in  the  hands  of  the  Wilburites. 
In  1844,  before  I  left  Philadelphia  to  go  to  Bloomingdale,  I  gave  my 
opinion  that  the  society  had  better  separate  then, — the  sooner,  the 
better, —  and  thus  save  a  vast  amount  of  scandal,  ill-feeling,  and 
backbiting.  It  was  my  belief  then  that  no  religious  schism  which 
had  advanced  so  far  as  this  had  in  1844  was  ever  settled;  and  time 
has  shown  that  I  was  right,  for  once.  But  I  hardly  think  there  will 
be  a  separation  this  year.  The  Gurney  party  perhaps  think  they  are 
too  weak  to  venture  on  so  important  a  step. 

This  does  not  indicate  a  very  enthusiastic  partisan  of  any 
theological  opinion.  Indeed,  he  was  ever  more  concerned  for 
the  spirit  of  Christianity  than  for  dogma  of  any  kind. 

It  was  much  the  same  in  the  political  schism  then  going  on 
between  the  North  and  the  South  on  the  slavery  question.  Dr. 
Earle,  though  his  heart  and  conscience  were  on  the  anti-slavery 
side,  could  not  support  extreme  views.  In  Washington  he  went 
to  hear  the  debates  of  Congress  on  both  sides  of  the  Kansas 
issue.  Thus  on  March  20  he  pressed  into  the  crowded  Senate 
gallery  to  hear  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  author  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  and  afterwards  the  great  opponent  of  Abraham 


1852-1861  229 

Lincoln  in  contests  for  the  Senate  and  the  Presidency.     He 
says :  — 

Douglas  spoke  to  a  very  silent  audience  for  two  hours  and  more. 
Some  allusion  to  remarks  made  by  his  colleague  from  Illinois,  Lyman 
Trumbull,  called  up  Trumbull,  who  proved  himself  fully  able  to  meet 
his  antagonist  at  all  points.  Trumbull  is  a  new  senator,  and  has 
made  but  one  speech  before  this  day,  but  already  has  put  himself  in 
the  front  rank  among  senators  as  an  able,  eloquent  debater.  As  for 
Douglas,  all  knew  long  ago  that  he  is  a  very  able  man.  This,  wdth 
his  short  stature,  gave  him  years  since  the  name  of  the  "little  giant." 
He  is  a  widower ;  and,  w^hile  he  was  speaking.  Senator  Hale,  seeing 
that  many  ladies  could  get  no  seats  in  their  gallery,  proposed  —  since 
much  interest  was  felt  in  the  speech,  and  peculiarly  among  the 
ladies  —  that  they  should  be  admitted  to  seats  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate.  This  required  unanimous  consent ;  and  Weller,  of  Cali- 
fornia, objected.     So  the  ladies  were  obliged  to  stay  out. 

March  30,  Mr.  Conway's  pulpit  was  occupied  by  the  eloquent 
Thomas  Starr  King,  then  of  Boston,  but  afterwards  of  San 
Francisco,  where  he  did  good  service  on  the  Union  side  in  the 
Civil  War.  The  church  was  unusually  full ;  and  among  those 
present  were  Senator  Sumner,  Speaker  Banks,  Anson  Burlin- 
game,  and  Senator  Hale.  Less  than  two  months  after  this 
Sumner  was  brutally  attacked  in  the  Senate  Chamber  by  Brooks, 
of  South  Carolina ;  and  civil  war  on  a  small  scale  broke  out  in 
Kansas, —  the  prelude  to  the  great  Civil  War  of  1861. 

Early  in  1857  Dr.  Earle  was  again  in  Washington,  and  fre- 
quent in  his  attendance  on  Congress  and  the  Supreme  Court, 
Jan.  21,  1857,  he  writes  :  — 

I  sat  for  a  few  minutes  in  the  Supreme  Court,  Judge  Taney  and 
seven  of  his  associate  justices  (all  but  one)  being  on  the  bench. 
They  are  as  fine-looking  men  as  you  can  find  anywhere.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  Justice  B.  R.  Curtis,  of  Boston,  has  the  most  strongly 
intellectual  aspect,  and  Justice  John  McLean,  of  Cincinnati,  the 
most  striking  external  appearance  of  high  moral  faculties.  George  T. 
Curtis,  of  Boston,  was  arguing  a  case  relating  to  the  insurance  of 


230  WASHINGTON    IN    1857 

Donald  McKay's  big  ship,  the  "  Great  Republic,"  burned  in  New 
York  four  years  ago.* 

It  was  commonly  said  in  Washington  and  Philadelphia  in 
this  winter  of  1856-57  that,  if  Judge  McLean  had  been  nomi- 
nated by  the  Republicans  for  the  Presidency  instead  of  Colonel 
Fremont,  Mr.  Buchanan  would  have  been  defeated.  But  he 
was  chosen,  and  was  now  on  his  way  to  Washington  to  succeed 
General  Pierce  in  the  White  House.  In  other  respects  the 
political  and  personal  situation  was  changed.  Charles  Sumner, 
not  yet  recovered  from  the  attack  of  Brooks,  was  preparing  to 
sail  for  Europe;  and  Brooks  himself,  whom  Dr.  Earle  saw  and 
described  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  January  23,  as  "lounging 
upon  one  of  the  seats  not  far  from  Sumner's  vacant  chair,  his 
hair  black  and  profuse,  his  complexion  ruddy,  wearing  a  goatee, 
but  neither  mustache  nor  whiskers,  and  almost  always  with  a 
black  glove  on  his  left  hand,"  was  dead  on  the  27th  and  buried 
on  the  29th.  Senator  Douglas  was  married,  and  Dr.  Earle  met 
him  and  his  handsome  wife  at  a  dancing  party  in  the  house  of 
Secretary  McClelland.  He  portrays  her  as  "four  inches  taller 
than  her  husband, —  almost  as  tall  as  he  is,  including  his  hat, — 
with  dark  hair  and  eyebrows,  and  in  the  form  of  her  head  and 
features  almost  precisely  like  cousin  Mary  S.,  but  taller  and 
heavier."     Of  the  Senate  in  1857  he  says  :  — 

As  contrasted  with  the  Senate  of  last  winter,  it  is  as  broadly  dif- 
ferent as  a  battlefield  is  from  a  Quaker  meeting.  Then  it  seemed 
soaked  in  gall  and  wormwood  :  this  winter  it  is  smeared  with  honey. 
If  my  eyes  did  not  play  me  false,  I  actually  saw  Douglas  leave  his 
seat,  and  come  almost  the  whole  length  of  the  chamber  to  shake 
hands  and  chat  with  Seward ;  while  Hale  was  cosily  talking  with 
Evans,  of  South  Carolina,  and  Butler  (uncle  of  Brooks)  laughing  and 
joking  with  Foote,  of  Vermont.  Mason,  of  Virginia,  acting  president 
of  the  Senate,  left  the  chair,  and  called  upon  Foote  to  fill  it  in  his 
absence. 

There  was  much  tea-drinking  and  dining  and  evening  festivity 
this  winter,  in  which  Dr.  Earle  took  a  kindly  share ;  his  friend, 

•The  court  had  not  yet  pronounced  its  notorious  Dred  Scott  decision  of  1857,  intended  to  be  tlie 
bulwark  of  negro  slavery. 


I852-I86I  231 

Dr.  Nichols,  being  in  love,  and  often  seeking  the  society  of  the 
young  ladies.     Of  one  Washington  house  he  says  :  — 

Mrs.  M.'s  eldest  son  is  a  great  friend  of  Dr.  Nichols.  This 
sufficiently  accounts  for  our  visits  there.  Were  it  not  unphilosophi- 
cal  to  look  for  more  causes  than  this  sufficient  one,  I  might  add  that 
his  sister,  aged  twenty,  is  a  handsome  brunette.  Other  brunettes 
are  coming  up  after  her.  There  are  Alice  and  Isabella,  and  Nannie 
and  Salhe,  and  Jeanie  and  Lucy, —  interspersed  with  several  brothers, 
—  in  a  regularly  descending  series.  Great  havoc  will  be  made  one 
of  these  years  under  the  jacket  pockets  of  Washington  beaux. 

Dr.  Earle  was  ever  a  discriminating  admirer  of  beauty.  In 
describing  a  party  at  General  Webb's,  he  says  :  — 

We  arrived  precisely  at  10  p.m.,  and  were  very  early;  for  people 
kept  coming  till  midnight.  It  was  the  most  "  sectional  "  and  "  par- 
tisan "  of  any  that  I  ever  attended  in  Washington, —  decidedly 
Northern  and  emphatically  Republican.  Hardly  a  Southern  man 
of  note  was  there,  except  Mr.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  with  his 
magnificently  dressed  wife  and  two  young  ladies.  Neither  were  there 
many  Democratic  members  of  Congress.  The  Republicans  in  great 
numbers,  from  Banks  downward,  were  there.  Among  other  notables 
were  Judge  McLean  and  Mr.  Stoeckel,  the  Russian  ambassador,  who 
has  recently  married  an  American,  Miss  Howard,  of  Springfield. 
She  was  present,  and  among  the  finest-looking  of  the  company.  In 
the  ball-room  the  solemnities  were  concluded  with  a  Virginia  reel 
about  2  A.M.  As  the  ladies  with  us  were  relatives  of  the  host,  we 
were  among  the  last  who  left ;  and  we  reached  home  a  little  before 
3  A.M.  The  next  morning  (January  29)  was  the  first  day  since  my 
coming  that  I  have  not  risen  before  the  sun.  However,  I  was  down- 
stairs before  eight  o'clock. 

Dr.  Earle  was  frequently  meeting  his  former  pupils,  either  of 
the  Fall  River  school,  where  he  taught  so  early,  or  of  the 
Friends'  School  at  Providence.  In  the  preceding  winter,  going 
upon  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  whom  should 
he  encounter  but  a  "  Know-nothing  "  member  of  Congress  from 
Fall  River, —  James  Buffington,  who  long  continued  to  repre- 


232  RECEPTIONS    AT    THE    WHITE    HOUSE 

sent  that  light-house  and  post-office  district  as  a  Republican, 
when  the  American  party  had  merged  in  the  new  Republican 
party. 

I  looked  at  him,  and  he  looked  at  me  (I  had  not  seen  him  since 
1836).  Then  I  looked  a  little  harder,  and  he  looked  a  little  harder. 
I  extended  my  hand,  and  said,  "  I  believe  this  is  the  man,  but  am 
not  positive."  He  took  my  hand,  and  said,  "  I  should  call  this  PUny 
Earle."  Whereupon  I  was  convinced  that  he  knew  some  things, 
though  politically  a  "  Know-nothing."  "  I  have  grown  old  faster 
than  you  have,"  said  he ;  "  you  don't  look  any  older  to  me  than 
you  did  twenty  years  ago."  That  may  well  be,  thought  I ;  and  yet  a 
vast  change  may  have  come  over  me. 

He  met  his  friend  again  repeatedly  in  this  second  winter,  and 
saw  him  taking  part  in  the  counting  of  votes  for  Buchanan  and 
Fremont  and  in  the  other  proceedings  of  Congress.  He  met 
hi-m  at  the  White  House  receptions,  which  were  greatly 
crowded,  and  which  he  thus  describes,  speaking  of  the  last  one 
held  by  President  Pierce  before  giving  up  the  chair  to  James 
Buchanan,  the  last  pro-slavery  President :  — 

Dr.  Nichols  and  I  went  to  the  White  House  about  9  p.m.,  Febru- 
ar)'  27.  If  some  of  the  former  soirees  had  been  "jams,"  this  was 
"jamnation."  We  met  many  persons  coming  away,  either  because 
they  could  not  get  in  or  because  they  had  been  in  and  were  only  too 
glad  to  get  out  again.  Every  apartment  in  the  great  house  was  a 
complete,  if  not  boundless,  "  continuity "  of  human  nature.  After 
getting  to  the  upper  step  of  the  portico,  it  was  some  fifteen  minutes 
before  we  could  enter  the  door,  the  crowd  being  so  great. 

My  arduous  and  perilous  journey  through  the  entrance  hall,  the 
corridor,  the  Red,  Blue,  and  Green  Rooms,  into  the  great  East  Room, 
and  so  back  to  the  corridor,  was  mostly  performed  alone  ;  for,  at  the 
door  between  Red  and  Blue,  Dr.  Nichols  and  I  got  separated,  and 
thenceforth,  like  Ulysses  and  Telemachus,  in  Fe'nelon's  fable,  we 
wandered  up  and  down  apart,  each  subject  to  his  own  series  of 
adventures.  As  we  escaped  from  the  portico  into  the  front  hall,  our 
misery,  which  loved  company,  was  softened  by  seeing  just  in  front  of 
us  Mr.  Guthrie,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  pursuing  his  President 


1852-1861  233 

under  difficulties.  His  hat-brim  was  turned  up  defiantly,  and  his 
elephantine  form  was  yielding  submissive  to  the  human  current.  •  At 
the  middle  hall,  or  corridor,  the  crowd  grew  more  intolerable ;  for 
there  the  ladies,  who  had  entered  a  side  room,  joined  the  gentlemen 
to  force  a  way  into  the  Blue  Room,  where  stood  President  Pierce. 
Alas  for  the  fashionable  crinolines  now !  Willing  or  unwilling,  they 
must  shrink  to  their  least  compass,  reversing  Milton's  account  of 
those  other  distressed  angels. 

Who  in  their  own  dimensions,  like  themselves. 
In  close  recess  and  secret  conclave  sat. 
Frequent  and  full ; 

for  here  they  were  reduced  to  their  lowest  terms  and  least  common 
multiple.  As  I  was  entering  the  Red  Room  doorway,  Mr.  Whitfield, 
the  pro-slaver}'  M.C.  from  Kansas,  attempted  to  edge  himself  in  on 
the  right,  past  the  door-post.  I  thought  his  crowding  interfered  with 
my  rights  as  a  free  citizen  of  Massachusetts,  so  I  paid  him  in  his 
own  coin,  upon  which,  evidently  intending  to  keep  all  he  had  and 
get  all  he  could,  he  put  his  hands  and  knees  against  the  door-post. 
This  gave  him  what  Archimedes  said  he  lacked  in  order  to  move  the 
globe,  a  firm  basis ;  and,  thus  braced,  he  gave  a  tremendous  push 
backwards,  but  somewhat  towards  the  Red  Room.  As  good  luck 
would  have  it,  his  back  was  almost  directly  against  mine,  so  that  he 
forced  me,  as  by  a  catapult,  very  suddenly,  but  safe  and  sound,  into 
the  Red  Room,  whence  I  advanced  slowly,  with  the  stream,  to  the 
Blue  Room.  The  doorway  between  the  two  will  long  be  remembered 
by  me  for  one  of  those  marvellous  escapes  which  occur  at  intervals 
of  our  life  on  earth.  I  was  lucky  enough  to  enter  the  doorway  about 
its  middle ;  and,  the  walls  being  thick,  it  is,  in  fact,  a  short  entry. 
Once  fairly  in  it,  I  took  an  observation  of  my  surroundings.  Five 
young  ladies,  all  strangers  to  me,  encompassed  me  round  about,  the 
whole  six  of  us  so  closely  grouped  that  a  middle-sized  crinoline  would 
have  encased  us,  as  a  thimble  does  the  finger's  end.  And  there  stood 
I  in  the  midst  of  them,  like  —  like  —  well,  like  the  handle  of  a  castor, 
rising  in  the  midst  of  pepper-box,  mustard-pot,  sweet-oil,  and  vinegar- 
cruet.  I  was  on  the  point  of  saying,  "  How  are  you,  gals  ?  "  when 
we  emerged,  all  in  a  lump,  from  the  doorway.  The  ladies  laughed, 
shook  out  their  crinolines,  chatted,  and  pursued  their  way,  as  I  did 
mine,  to  where  we  were  introduced  to  the  President.     I  told  him  I 


2  34  PRESIDENTS    INAUGURATED 

thought  he  was  to  be  pitied,  but  he  was  so  busy  talking  to  the  five 
girls  that  he  did  not  hear  me.  Then  I  slowly  passed  into  the  Green 
Room,  and  around  the  usual  promenade  course  of  the  East  Room,  in 
the  centre  of  which  is  a  marble  table,  under  the  chandelier.  A  girl, 
ten  years  old,  was  upon  the  table  (placed  there  for  safety) ;  and 
General  Houston,  of  Texas,  was  leaning  against  it.  As  I  came  away, 
one  of  the  last  noteworthy  sights  indoors  was  the  Russian  ambassador 
and  his  lady,  clambering  over  a  huge  pile  of  hats,  coats,  and  shawls 
in  the  entrance  hall. 

The  next  important  function  described  by  Dr.  Earle  was 
the  inauguration  of  President  Buchanan,  March  4,  1857,  as 
follows :  — 

This  day  rose  bright  and  clear  over  Washington,  the  tempera- 
ture such  that  you  might  be  comfortable  without  an  overcoat,  yet  not 
uncomfortable  with  one.  All  the  world  was  agog  when  Dr.  Nichols 
and  I  drove  into  the  city  at  10  a.m.,  the  road  thronged  with  people, 
like  those  which  lead  into  Worcester  on  a  cattle-show  day.  The 
grounds  at  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol  were  already  occupied  by 
multitudes,  and  the  street  of  the  procession  greatly  crowded.  Upper 
windows  and  even  roofs  along  the  route  were  occupied.  A  large 
platform  was  erected  over  the  eastern  steps  of  the  Capitol  for  the 
incoming  and  the  outgoing  President,  the  Supreme  Court  judges, 
senators  and  members  of  Congress,  and  such  other  persons  as  could 
get  upon  it.  This  placed  them  where  a  concourse  of  100,000  people 
might  see  them  distinctly.  Directly  in  front  of  this  there  was  an- 
other platform,  some  four  feet  high,  to  protect  numerous  pieces  of 
ornamental  marble  lying  there  until  warmer  weather  shall  permit 
putting  them  in  place  in  the  new  Capitol.  This  platform,  upon 
which  I  got  a  position,  would  perhaps  hold  10,000  persons.  My 
place  was  almost  directly  in  front  of  the  chair  intended  for  Mr. 
Buchanan.  At  length,  after  long  waiting,  there  was  great  hurrahing 
by  the  crowd,  and  much  noise  from  the  bands  of  music,  intimating 
the  coming  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  whom  a  covered  passage  protected  on 
his  way  from  the  street  to  the  Capitol  (west  front).  Fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes  later  the  door  leading  to  the  eastern  portico  was 
opened ;  and  President  Pierce,  with  Mr.  Buchanan,  made  his  ap- 
pearance, followed  by  the  judges   of  the   Supreme   Court   in   their 


1852-1861  235 

black  silk  gowns.  Advancing  to  the  front  of  the  platform,  in  the 
centre,  they  took  seats  amidst  applause  from  the  surrounding  "  sov- 
ereigns." Then  foreign  ambassadors,  members  of  Congress,  and  a 
pell-mell  crowd  of  men,  women,  and  children  followed,  all  running 
to  secure  the  best  places.  Gold-laced,  small-clothed,  and  cock- 
hatted  ministers  plenipotentiary  were  elbowed  by  farmers'  boys  and 
pushed  aside  by  firemen  rigged  in  fire  dresses.  Contrasting  these 
ceremonies  (unceremonious)  with  those  of  great  State  occasions  I 
had  seen  in  Europe,  I  could  imagine  the  foreign  ministers  saying  in 
their  hearts,  "  All  republicanism." 

When  Buchanan  began  to  read  his  inaugural,  and  the  crowd's 
attention  was  consequently  centred  on  him,  I  felt  a  fumbling  near 
my  coat  pocket.  I  edged  aside  a  little,  but  the  fumbling  soon 
began  again ;  and  I  looked  round.  Directly  behind  me  stood  a 
blear-eyed,  sandy-haired  young  man,  in  snuff-colored  coat,  who, 
seeing  my  motion,  gazed  point-blank  into  vacancy,  with  the  most 
innocent  expression  ever  seen  on  the  face  of  man.  I  looked 
point-blank  into  those  innocent  blear  eyes,  and  said,  "If  you 
don't  look  out,  we'll  have  hold  of  you  pretty  soon."  With  a 
voice  as  innocent  as  his  expression  had  been,  he  said,  "What 
for } "  "  Oh,"  said  I,  "  you  are  rather  short ;  and  I  want  to  lift 
you  up  so  you  can  see."  I  then  turned  to  my  neighbor.  Dr.  Brown, 
of  Bloomingdale,  and  said,  "Look  out  for  your  pockets."  Where- 
upon the  innocent  snuff-colored  coat  wedged  its  way  among  the 
people,  and  disappeared. 

After  the  short  inaugural  was  read.  Chief  Justice  Taney  admin- 
istered the  oath  of  office  to  Mr.  Buchanan.  There  was  a  great 
shaking  of  hands  on  the  platform.  The  Vice-President,  Brecken- 
ridge,  who  had  already  taken  the  oath  of  his  office  in  the  Senate, 
came  forward,  and  bowed  to  the  people ;  and  then  the  great  mul- 
titude dispersed.  Miss  Harriet  Lane,  the  President's  niece,  rode 
away  in  a  barouche  drawn  by  four  white  horses,  and  Buchanan, 
Pierce,  and  Breckenridge  in  another,  drawn  by  two  whites.  There 
were  twenty  times  as  many  people  about  the  Capitol  and  in  Penn- 
sylvania Avenue  to-day  as  at  the  first  inauguration  I  witnessed  here, 
—  March  4,  1837, —  when  President  Van  Buren,  who  had  been 
Vice-President,  was  inaugurated.  While  Buchanan  was  escorted 
to-day  by  many  military  companies.  Van  Buren  then  rode  from  the 
White  House  to  the  Capitol  alone  with   General  Jackson  and  with 


236  PRESIDENTS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES 

no  escort  whatever.*     So  we  advance  towards  the  form  and  cere- 
mony of  monarchies. 

In  the  twenty  years  that  intervened  between  the  retirement 
of  Presidents  Jackson  and  Pierce,  no  less  than  seven  Presidents 
had  been  in  power  at  Washington,  no  one  of  them  exceeding 
four  years  in  office,  and  one  (General  W.  H.  Harrison)  surviv- 
ing his  accession  only  a  month.  He  had  been  succeeded  by 
John  Tyler  in  April,  1841  ;  and  in  July,  1850,  General  Taylor 
had  been  succeeded  by  his  Vice-President,  Millard  Fillmore. 
In  Pierce's  administration  his  Vice-President,  W.  R.  King,  had 
died,  so  that  this  period  of  twenty  years  was  more  marked 
than  any  other  by  the  short  terms  of  these  high  officers.  Bu- 
chanan was  succeeded  by  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was  assassi- 
nated at  the  beginning  of  his  second  four  years,  and,  twenty 
years  after  Lincoln's  accession.  President  Garfield  was  assassi- 
nated, so  that  there  were  again  but  seven  Presidents  in  the 
twenty-eight  years  from  185710  1885,  all  of  whom  Dr.  Earle  saw. 
Andrew  Johnson  he  saw  and  heard  for  the  first  time  in  the 
Senate  in  January,  1859,  when  Dr.  Earle  was  again  in  Wash- 
ington on  a  visit  to  Dr.  Nichols  at  the  Government  Hospital, 
which  was  still  small  (130  patients  only),  but  gave  to  its  direc- 
tor and  his  guests  access  to  all  that  was  distinguished  in 
Washington  society  of  that  time.  Consequently,  Dr.  Earle 
was  again  thrown  into  a  tide  of  social  festivity,  by  no  means 
disagreeable  to  the  recluse  of  Leicester,  when  he  came  forth 
from  his  cottage  into  the  active  world.  Since  the  winter  of 
1857  Dr.  Nichols  had  married  Miss  Maury,  the  brunette  with 
so  many  sisters ;  and  in  her  circle  of  friends  Dr.  Earle  assisted 
at  dinner  parties,  one  of  which,  almost  an  official  gathering,  he 
has  described  in  a  letter  to  his  sister  at  Leicester. 

Jail.  28,  1859. —  I  dined  to-day  with  Mr.  Parker,  who  lives  in 
Washington  not  far  from  Mrs.  Maury's,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Nichols. 
The  dinner  hour  being  six,  I  presented  myself  then.  The  door  was 
opened  by  a  negro  in  white  gloves.     Thinks  I :  "  I'm  in  for  it.     This 

•  It  might  be  said  that  to  be  escorted  by  the  hero  of  New  Orleans  was  equal  to  many  militia 
companies.     Railroad-building  had  wrought  the  change  in  the  multitude  present. 


1S52-1861  237 

is  a  white-glove  dinner."  Guests  in  the  entry  were  putting  on  white 
gloves ;  while  I,  not  expecting  this  grade  of  dinner,  had  come  with- 
out my  gloves.  I  felt  a  little  mortification,  but  put  a  bold  face  on, 
and  determined  to  make  the  best  of  it.  So  I  went  into  the  parlor, 
spoke  to  my  host  and  hostess,  and  was  introduced  to  all  the  guests 
who  had  arrived, —  about  half  the  expected  twenty, —  all  of  them 
gauntleted  in  white  kid.  But  this  is  a  free  country ;  and,  as  all  these 
people  were  democrats,  I  consoled  myself  with  the  thought  that  I 
was  setting  them  a  good  democratic  example.  The  party  being  all 
assembled,  two  broad  doors  opened,  one  from  the  front  and  one 
from  the  back  parlor,  and  behold  the  dining-room,  running  parallel 
with  the  parlors,  of  the  same  length  and  somewhat  wider.  We  are 
each  informed  what  lady  he  is  to  escort  to  the  table ;  and  the  proces- 
sion is  formed  in  this  order,  as  near  as  I  recollect:  i.  Hon.  Isaac 
Toucey,  of  Hartford,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  with  Mrs.  Jacob  Thomp- 
son, wife  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  2.  Postmaster-general 
Brown,  of  Tennessee,  with  Mrs.  Parker,  our  hostess ;  3.  Colonel 
Drinkard,  chief  clerk  in  the  Navy  Department,  with  Mrs.  Brown  ;  4. 
Dr.  Thomas  Maury,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Parker,  with 
Miss  Pillow,  daughter  of  General  Pillow,  of  Tennessee ;  5.  Mr. 
Schell,  brother  of  the  New  York  collector,  Augustus  Schell,  and 
Mrs.  Dr.  Maury  ;  6.  Hon.  J.  Thompson,  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
with  Mrs.  Schell;  7.  Mr.  John  Maury  and  Miss  Saunders,  step- 
daughter of  the  Postmaster-general ;  8.  Mr.  Thompson,  son  of  the 
Secretary,  and  Miss  Mary  Parker  ;  9.  Mr.  Trotter,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  Miss  Alice  Maury;  10.  Dr.  Earle  and  Miss  Fanny  Parker. 
Then  there  were  Mr.  Parker,  and  a  lady  and  gentleman  whose 
names  I  do  not  recall.  The  table  was  set  for  twenty-four,  and 
all  the  chairs  but  one  occupied.  Every  gentleman,  save  one,  is 
between  two  ladies,  and  every  lady,  save  one,  between  two  gentle- 
men. A  vase,  with  a  beautiful  bouquet,  each  containing  camellias, 
etc.,  is  in  front  of  each  lady,  who  will  take  the  flowers  home  with 
her.  The  table  is  twenty-four  feet  long  and  ten  feet  wide.  Over 
either  end  is  a  massive  chandelier,  with  eight  gas-burners.  Two 
candelabra,  each  with  ten  candles,  stand  on  the  table,  between 
them  vases  of  flowers.  Pyramids,  temples,  etc.,  made  of  confec- 
tionery, are  here  and  there  on  the  tables.  All  the  food  is  in  an 
adjoining  room,  and  is  served  in  sixteen  or  twenty  courses  by 
four  colored  men  in  white  gloves.     At  each  plate  is  a  decanter  of 


238  WASHINGTON    DURING    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

water,  with  a  goblet.  Also  there  are  five  wine-glasses,  no  two  of 
them  alike,  and  two  of  them  colored  cut  Bohemian  glass.  These 
drinking  implements  not  being  thought  quite  enough,  a  small  tum- 
bler of  Roman  punch  was  added,  after  the  soup,  and  a  cup  of 
coffee  as  the  fi7iale.  We  were  at  the  table  nearly  three  hours,  and 
it  was  altogether  a  very  sociable  and  pleasant  affair.  We  departed 
at  9.30,  Miss  Saunders  having  first  given  me  an  invitation  to  a  ball 
at  the  Postmaster-general's,  to-morrow  evening,  with  six  hundred 
other  guests. 

Dr.  Earle  went  to  this  ball,  to  the  White  House  receptions, 
where  Miss  Harriet  Lane  presided  with  grace,  and  to  a  recep- 
tion at  Dr.  Bailey's  (the  anti-slavery  editor  who  first  published 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"),  where  the  company  were  all  Republi- 
cans, with  their  wives  and  daughters,  and  where  he  met 
Senators  Seward,  Wilson,  Hale,  etc.,  Richard  Mott,  brother-in- 
law  of  Lucretia  Mott,  and  Justice  McLean.  In  the  Senate 
they  were  discussing  Cuba  and  a  bill  appropriating  ^30,000,- 
000  for  acquiring  it,  while  the  House  admitted  Oregon  as  a 
State.  No  one  then  looked  forward  seriously  to  disunion, 
though  it  had  long  been  threatened,  and  John  Brown,  in  Kan- 
sas, had  just  made  the  first  forcible  emancipation  of  slaves, — 
—  an  example  which  the  President  followed  less  than  four 
years  later.  Senator  Sumner  was  still  in  Europe,  recovering 
slowly  from  his  injuries  of  1856;  and  General  Banks  had  be- 
come Governor  of  Massachusetts. 

The  Civil  War  broke  out  in  April,  1861.  A  year  later  we 
find  Dr.  Earle  in  Washington,  on  business  of  the  census,  but 
much  occupied  with  thoughts  of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers 
and  the  unsuccessful  conduct  of  the  campaigns  around  the 
capital.  In  July,  1862,  he  offered  his  services  as  surgeon  to 
the  Sanitary  Commission,  through  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe;  but  no 
occasion  for  his  joining  the  army  in  the  field  occurred.  Writ- 
ing from  Washington  to  his  nephew,  Pliny  Earle  Chase,  in 
Philadelphia,  April  12,  1862,  he  says:  — 

I  am  very  busy  looking  through  the  army  hospitals,  listening  to 
the  proceedings  in  Congress,  finishing  the  special  business  with  Mr, 


1852-1861  239 

Kennedy,  superintendent  of  the  census,  for  which  I  came,  and 
noticing  the  many  changes  which  have  taken  place  since  I  was  last 
here,  in  1859.  The  city  is  comparatively  quiet  since  General 
McClellan  and  his  army  left  to  go  to  the  York  River ;  but  officers 
and  soldiers  are  no  rarity  in  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  the  suburbs 
on  the  east,  as  well  as  on  the  heights  of  Georgetown  and  Arlington. 
Across  the  Potomac  the  encampments  of  many  regiments  are  to  be 
seen. 

The  stress  of  war  had  doubled  the  extent  of  the  work  done 
at  the  Government  Hospital,  which  now  not  only  received  the 
insane  of  the  army  and  navy,  but  gave  shelter  and  treatment  to 
the  sick  and  wounded  of  both  army  and  navy,  so  that  in  the 
beginning  of  1863  it  contained  nearly  600  patients  instead 
of  the  130  of  1859.  Pressed  with  all  these  duties,  Dr.  Nichols 
(Jan.  15,  1863)  gave  Dr.  Earle  the  charge  of  the  west  wing 
of  the  hospital,  containing  175  insane  patients,  all  men,  and 
many  of  them  recently  from  the  camps  and  battlefields.  This 
duty  detained  him  in  Washington  for  some  months  in  1863, 
and  called  him  there  again  early  in  1864.  But  so  important 
are  his  records  of  the  army  experiences  and  political  events  of 
this  period  that  a  chapter  must  be  devoted  to  them. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THINGS    SEEN    AND    HEARD    IN    WAR. 

It  was  a  natural  but  perplexing  situation  which  the  Civil 
War  created  at  the  national  capital.  Washington  had  been 
politically  and  socially  a  Southern  village.  Slavery  existed 
there,  and  was  maintained  and  cherished  by  Congress,  and 
by  every  President  since  Jefferson,  although  several  of  them  had 
been  opposed  to  slavery  in  the  abstract.  The  rebellion  of 
Virginia  brought  the  forces  of  the  pro-slavery  army  within  easy 
reach  of  the  seat  of  government  for  the  loyal  States,  which  to 
them  was  at  the  extreme  verge  of  the  territory  they  controlled  ; 
and  this  both  made  attacks  on  Washington  by  the  rebels 
feasible  and  expedient  and  exposed  its  defenders  to  great  in- 
convenience and  risk.  Moreover,  a  large  part  of  the  resident 
population  of  Washington  sympathized  with  the  rebellion, 
either  actively,  in  all  its  aims,  or  virtually,  as  agreeing  with 
some  of  them, —  to  grant  no  rights  to  the  negroes,  for  one. 
The  officers  of  the  regular  army,  too,  were  mostly  hostile  to 
the  anti-slavery  cause, —  some  of  them  bitterly  so ;  while 
others  looked  on  the  slave-question  as  having  little  to  do  with 
the  issue  of  the  war.  On  the  other  hand,  the  tide  of  anti- 
slavery  sentiment  was  constantly  and  rapidly  rising,  and  find- 
ing expression  more  and  more  in  the  debates  of  Congress.  In 
the  autumn  of  1862  President  Lincoln  threw  his  great  influence' 
and  matchless  sagacity  on  the  side  of  emancipation.  But  the 
army  officers,  and  particularly  McClellan  and  his  friends,  still 
hoped  for  some  political  compromise  which  would  save  slavery, 
and  restore  the  old  governing  class  of  politicians  to  power. 
This  was  the  situation  when  Dr.  Earle  took  up  his  residence 
at  the  Government  Hospital,  and  came  into  intimate  relations 
with  General  Hooker  and  other  prominent  persons  at  Wash- 
ington.  His  diary  is  cautiously  written,  but  contains  some 
facts  and  suggestions  which  have  not  yet  got  into  the  authentic 


i862-i86s  241 

books  of  history  and    biography.     It    will    therefore   be   cited 
more  fully  than  in  the  preceding  chapters. 

As  has  been  said,  Dr.  Earle  passed  most  of  the  winter  of 
1862-63  in  the  Government  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  as  an 
unofficial  medical  assistant  to  his  friend  Dr.  Nichols.  He 
found  there  many  new  patients,  sent  up  from  the  army  in  the 
field  and  the  navy  in  active  service  along  the  Atlantic  coast 
and  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  but  they  were  chiefly  drawn  from 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  infantry, —  the  same  class  as  those 
among  whom  Whitman,  the  Long  Island  poet,  had  just  then 
begun  his  self-sacrificing  labors  in  the  field  and  the  Washington 
hospitals.  Some  of  Dr.  Earle's  insane  patients  had  before  been 
in  other  asylums ;  and  instances  were  not  a  few  where  the 
patient  had  been  discharged  from  the  asylum  for  the  purpose 
of  enlisting  in  the  Union  army.     He  writes  (Jan.  27,  1863)  :  — 

At  my  first  visit  to  this  hospital,  seven  years  ago,  it  was  but  a 
small  building,  with  about  30  patients.  It  has  now  grown  into  a 
great  establishment, —  all  the  original  design  having  been  built  upon, 
—  and  is  occupied  for  three  nearly  distinct  hospitals.  One  of  these 
is  for  the  insane,  who  are  under  my  care ;  a  second  is  for  the  sick 
and  wounded  men  from  the  army ;  and  the  third  is  for  the  disabled 
men  of  the  navy,— in  all  three,  almost  600  patients.  As  I  walked 
about  the  grounds  some  days  ago,  I  came  to  a  settee  so  placed 
as  to  command  a  fine  view  of  the  river  (the  Eastern  Branch  of  the 
Potomac),  of  Washington  and  Georgetown.  Its  four  occupants, 
soldiers,  had  but  four  legs  among  them.  One  of  the  men  was  a  very 
talkative  Frenchman,  who  lost  his  leg  at  Antietam  last  September, 
but  had  before  been  in  all  the  battles  of  the  peninsula,  under  Gen- 
eral McClellan.  He  gave  his  views  very  fully  concerning  his  general 
and  the  whole  conduct  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  They  were  not 
favorable  to  either.  At  the  next  Sunday  service  in  the  chapel  I 
counted  13  men  with  only  13  legs,  but  25  crutches  ;  and  the  whole 
number  of  one-legged  men  in  the  hospital  is  about  40.  A  manufac- 
tory of  jointed  wooden  legs,  which  the  government  supplies  gratis  to 
such  men,  is  established  on  our  premises.  On  the  15th  of  January 
Dr.  Nichols  gave  me  charge  of  the  west  wing  of  the  chief  hospital 
building,  containing  175  insane  men,  about  20  of  whom  (all  from  the 
army)  have  been  admitted  in  the  twelve  days  since  I  took  charge.    It 


242  GENERAL    McCLELLAN    AND    HIS    FRIENDS 

was  a  most  fortunate  thing  that  the  government  could  complete  this 
hospital  before  the  war  :  otherwise  there  would  have  been  no  place 
for  these  insane  soldiers  and  sailors. 

The  army,  from  whose  command  General  McClellan  was  finally 
removed  last  November,  is  now  quiet  along  the  Rappahannock, 
excepting  the  inquietude  caused  by  the  change  of  commanders.  The 
McClellan  men  in  Washington  have  been  looking  for  their  favorite's 
reinstatement ;  but  he  never  will  be  reappointed,  unless  much  greater 
changes  take  place.  Fitz-John  Porter  has  met  with  his  reward.  It 
is  now  generally  conceded  that  there  was  a  regular  attempt,  not  to 
say  conspiracy,  to  break  down  General  Pope.  It  succeeded  for  the 
time,  but  its  most  serious  consequences  have  begun  to  fall  in  the 
proper  place.  I  have  heard  a  naval  officer  (a  McClellan  man)  say 
that  Porter  ought  to  be  shot,  and  I  have  also  heard  one  of  our 
major-generals  say  that  in  England  or  France  Porter  would  have 
been  hanged.  There  is  no  longer  a  doubt  in  my  mind  that  our  army 
might  have  been  in  Richmond  long  ago  if  all  the  officers  had  really 
tried  to  get  there.  Some  officers  have  been  incompetent ;  but  private 
piques  and  jealousies,  and  a  determination  not  to  fight  in  earnest, 
have  been  the  real  causes  of  our  failure.  It  is  known  that  in  the 
battle  of  Fredericksburg  (Dec.  13,  1862)  General  W.  B.  Franklin's 
division  contained  60,000  men,  6,000  of  whom  went  into  action  under 
General  Meade,  and  drove  the  rebels  nearly  a  mile.  General  Meade 
then  looked  back,  expecting  reinforcements,  but  saw  nothing  coming, 
and  retreated.  Here  the  battle  on  the  left  wing  ended;  yet  54,000 
soldiers  there  did  not  fire  a  shot,  and  were  not  ordered  into  action. 
A  man  of  excellent  judgment,  who  immediately  after  the  battle  went 
over  the  ground  where  Meade  fought,  says  there  is  no  doubt,  had  the 
whole  division  gone  into  action,  the  enemy's  right  flank  could  have 
been  turned,  and  the  victory  been  ours.  He  also  says  that  our  army 
will  not  succeed  until  it  has  submitted  to  more  thorough  discipline, 
that  in  this  battle  one  whole  regiment  scattered  at  the  mere  sound 
of  the  first  shell  that  came  screaming  over  them,  and  "  ran  in  all 
directions  like  a  flock  of  sheep."  However,  sheep  don't  generally 
run  in  «// directions,  was  my  reflection. 

Fredericksburg,  on  the  Rappahannock,  was  almost  wholly  evacu- 
ated by  its  inhabitants.  Whereupon  our  soldiers  took  large  liberties 
with  the  houses  and  furniture.  At  least  30,000  soldiers  slept  there 
one  night,  nearly  all   in  the  streets,  and  about  six  times  as  many  as 


1862-1865  243 

the  usual  population,  men,  women,  and  children.  Their  beds  were 
odd :  stacking  arms  in  the  streets,  they  tore  off  doors,  window 
shutters,  house-boards,  and  fence-boards,  laid  one  end  of  each  board 
on  the  curbstone,  the  other  on  the  pavement,  and  slept  on  them.  My 
informant,  who  rode  through  these  streets  at  midnight,  estimates  that 
one  hundred  houses,  at  least,  of  the  poorer  sort,  were  thus  stripped 
of  their  enclosing  boards  as  high  as  the  top  of  the  first  story,  and 
stood  there,  as  if  on  stilts,  upon  their  bared  timbers.  When  the 
army  recrossed  the  river  after  the  fight,  one  of  the  trophies  borne 
away  was  a  great  pier-glass  mirror,  which  an  enthusiastic  soldier  had 
strapped  on  his  back.  An  officer,  an  army  surgeon,  fell  in  love  with 
a  richly  sculptured  marble  mantel-piece  at  Fredericksburg,  tore  it 
from  its  place,  and  with  the  aid  of  two  soldiers  brought  it  away. 

Well,  there  is  a  man  at  the  head  of  the  army  now  [General  Joseph 
Hooker,  appointed  upon  General  Burnside's  resignation,  January  26] 
who  will  fight  whenever  he  has  a  fair  opportunity,  and  not  only  so, 
but  will  make  his  subordinates  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  fight, 
too.  General  Hooker  breakfasted  with  us  yesterday  morning,  having 
come  up  from  the  Rappahannock  in  the  night.  He  then  went  into 
Washington,  had  an  interview  with  the  President,  issued  his  address 
to  the  army  on  taking  command,  and  returned  to  the  army  at  night. 

No  doubt  General  Hooker  was  the  "man  of  excellent  judg- 
ment "  who  went  over  the  battlefield  after  the  retreat  of 
General  Meade,  and  was  also  the  informant  about  those  mid- 
night slumberers  in  Fredericksburg  streets.  He  had  been 
impatient  of  the  delays  of  McClellan  and  the  incompetence  of 
other  generals,  and  was  known  in  the  army  and  the  country  as 
"  Fighting  Joe  Hooker."  Dr.  Earle,  Quaker  as  he  was,  ex- 
pressed the  hope  that  he  would  now  "  stick  to  his  antecedents." 
He  goes  on  :  — 

February  3.— General  Hooker  dined  with  us  on  Saturday  last,  re- 
maining at  the  hospital  about  three  hours.  Of  course,  we  made  the 
most  of  him  by  asking  all  proper  questions  regarding  the  army,  the 
prospects,  etc.  He  says  the  rebels  will  remain  in  their  present 
intrenchments  until  he  shall  attack  them ;  and  he  certainly  will 
attack  them,  but  not  till  the  roads  are  better  and  the  army  fully  re- 
organized and  in  better  disciphne.     He  means  to  fight,  and  does  not 


244  GENERAL    JOSEPH    HOOKER 

mean  to  have  any  officer  under  him  who  will  not  fight.  He  would 
not  have  accepted  the  command  unless  he  could  put  men  of  his  own 
choice  at  the  head  of  his  three  divisions.  He  has  not  meddled  in 
politics  hitherto,  believing  that  the  rebelUon  must  be  put  down  by 
hard  blows,  and  that,  the  sooner  these  blows  are  given,  the  better. 
Judging  from  what  I  now  know,  I  am  not  surprised  that  the  Potomac 
Army  has  not  been  victorious  heretofore,  but  shall  be  both  surprised 
and  disappointed  if  it  does  not  conquer  now.  I  am  in  a  strong  anti- 
McClellan  and  pro-Hooker  atmosphere ;  and  this,  together  with  a 
slight  acquaintance  with  Hooker,  may  have  unfitted  me  to  judge 
impartially.  Still,  it  is  evident  that  McClellan  spoiled  his  army,  and 
that  he  has  not  even  the  merit  of  being  a  good  disciplinarian.  His 
opponents  here  say  that  he  did  not  manage  the  retreat  after  the  fights 
before  Richmond,  but  made  sure  of  the  safety  of  Number  One,  and 
left  the  whole  conduct  of  the  retreat  to  under  officers.  If  that  be  so, 
he  is  shorn  of  his  last  glory. 

Notwithstanding  these  facts  about  General  McClellan,  which 
have  turned  out  substantially  as  stated  by  Dr.  Earle,  the  dis- 
placed and  dissatisfied  general  was  nominated  for  President  the 
following  year,  against  President  Lincoln,  by  the  party  which 
favored  peace,  with  a  compromise  on  the  slavery  question,  but 
was  totally  defeated  in  November,  1864.  By  that  time  General 
Hooker  had  yielded  the  command  of  the  army  first  to  General 
Meade,  and  then  to  General  Grant,  under  whom,  at  Chatta- 
nooga, he  performed  his  most  brilliant  feat, —  the  capture  of 
Lookout  Mountain.  P'or  this  and  other  military  services  he 
has  received  the  first  honor  of  an  equestrian  statue  from  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  as  his  native  State.  Dr.  Earle  goes 
on  :  — 

February  7. —  I  was  at  the  Capitol  to-day,  and  heard  the  Senate 
debate  a  bill  appropriating  $20,000,000  to  assist  Missouri  in  eman- 
cipating her  slaves,  who  did  not  come  under  the  effect  of  the  Presi- 
dent's emancipation  proclamation  of  January  i.  While  I  was  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  General  Burnside  appeared  on  the  floor, 
and  for  awhile  was  the  greatest  Shaker  in  Washington,  every  one 
being  eager  to  grasp  his  hand.  After  the  representatives  had  done 
him  this  honor,  the  pages  thronged  about  him  with  books  and  scraps 


1862-1865  245 

of  paper  for  his  autograph.  So  great  was  the  demand  that  he  finally 
had  to  refuse,  and  departed.  Last  week  Miss  Dorothy  Dix  told  me 
that  there  was  very  little  sickness  in  the  soldiers'  hospitals,  of  which 
she  has  a  general  oversight,  the  patients  being  mostly  convalescent, 
so  that  there  was  "  nothing  for  the  nurses  to  do." 

February  22. —  But  I  have  work  enough  to  keep  me  out  of  mis- 
chief. This  is  my  39th  day  at  the  hospital ;  and,  since  I  came, 
45  men  patients,  43  from  the  army  and  2  from  the  navy,  have  been 
admitted, —  insane  patients,  I  mean,  who  all  come  under  my  care, 
and,  being  all  recent  cases  of  insanity,  they  make  me  much  work. 
In  all  we  have  190  insane  patients,  about  150  of  them  from  the  army. 
Many  are  Germans  and  Irishmen,  2  or  3  Italians,  i  Frenchman,  and 
I  Pole,  the  last  a  man  with  an  enormous  head,  who  speaks  six 
languages.  His  brain  is  too  powerful  for  his  body.  He  is  very 
insane,  and  will  probably  die.  If  our  army  is  to  be  judged  by  some 
of  the  specimens  that  come  to  us,  its  physique  is  not  in  high  con- 
dition, whatever  its  morals  may  be.  Day  before  yesterday  four  men 
were  brought  in  a  squad,  looking  Uke  Italian  brigands,  and  very 
evidently  belonging  to  the  "great  unwashed."  To  place  the  living 
beings  they  brought  with  them  at  4,000  would  be  a  low  estimate. 
They  were  brought  from  the  guard-house,  which  is  an  old  slave-pen 
in  Alexandria.  From  all  I  hear  of  that  old  Virginia  town,  it  has 
become  what  some  call  a  most  God-forsaken  place,  reeking  with  filth 
and  all  the  abominations  of  warfare.  Steamboats  run  hourly  from 
Washington  thither.  We  get  similar  samples  of  soldiers  from  the 
regular  Washington  guard-house. 

Our  soldier-patients  are  from  nearly  every  Northern  State,  from 
Maine  to  Kansas  (which  became  a  State  two  years  ago,  and  is 
represented  in  the  House  by  another  Conway,  Martin,  not  Moncure, 
—  the  latter  now  living  at  Concord).  Coming,  as  they  do,  from 
various  commands  and  many  regiments,  they  can  give  us  much  news 
about  war  matters,  in  spite  of  their  insanity.  Then  I  make  it  a 
rule  to  talk  with  every  one  who  recovers,  as  many  do  ;  and  I  follow 
Captain  Cuttle's  rule  of  making  a  note  of  all  that  is  noteworthy. 
Last  evening  I  wrote  the  war  history  of  an  Irishman  as  he  related 
it  to  me,  who  was  pressed  at  New  Orleans  into  the  rebel  service, 
fought  against  us  at  Big  Bethel  and  Williamsburg,  deserted,  and  got 
back  to  New  Orleans,  whence  General  Butler,  then  in  command 
there,   shipped  him  to   Boston.     He  afterwards  enlisted  in  a  New 


246  McCLELLAN    AND    HOOKER MISS    DIX 

York  regiment.  Two  or  three  days  ago  I  was  talking  with  a  man 
who  has  been  nearly  a  year  and  a  half  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
When  I  asked  him  if  the  soldiers  liked  General  Hooker,  he  said, 
"  Some  do,  but  there  are  many  who  don't :  there  isn't  one  soldier  in 
a  dozen  who  likes  an  officer  who  rushes  into  a  fight." 

Miss  Dix  lunched  with  us  a  few  days  ago  (we  breakfast  at  eight, 
lunch  at  twelve,  and  dine  at  five).  She  says  there  is  great  mortality 
among  the  soldiers  who  were  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro, 
and  thence  brought  to  the  hospitals  at  Alexandria  and  other  places 
near  Washington.  They  were  carried  (by  the  rebels)  from  Murfrees- 
boro to  Chattanooga,  thence  by  way  of  Richmond  to  Norfolk  or 
Fortress  Monroe  ;  and  it  was  twenty-six  days  from  the  time  they  were 
wounded  till  their  wounds  were  dressed.  No  wonder  their  mortality 
is  great. 

Religious  services  on  the  Sabbath  have  been  held  for  a  year  past 
in  the  chapel ;  but,  until  I  came,  no  secular  lecture  had  been  given 
there.  On  the  14th  of  February  I  consecrated  it  to  that  purpose, 
having  an  audience  of  200  persons  gathered  from  the  several  de- 
partments of  the  hospital;  and  I  also  lectured  on  the  17th  and 
20th.  I  expect  to  continue  this  service  twice  a  week  while  I  re- 
main here.  It  breaks  the  monotony  of  the  hospital  evenings,  pleases 
many  of  the  insane,  makes  the  government  of  them  easier,  and  in- 
creases their  attachment  to  the  person  in  general  charge  of  them, — 
if  he  is  also  the  lecturer.  All  the  one-legged  men  who  are  well 
enough  are  in  my  audiences  ;  and,  as  the  chapel  is  in  the  third  story 
and  they  walk  with  crutches  up  the  forty-seven  steps  of  the  two  flights 
of  stairs,  the  noise  they  make  is  appalling  to  sensitive  persons.  It 
reminds  me  of  the  negro  song, — 

Sich  a-gittin'  upstairs  I  nebber  did  see. 

March  i. —  15  more  insane  patients  have  come  in;  and,  of  the 
whole  60,  57  have  come  into  my  department.  A  fine  young  man 
was  brought  here  two  days  ago  from  one  of  the  Connecticut  regi- 
ments, with  three  of  his  toes  so  badly  frozen  that  they  are  likely 
to  slough  off,  unless  amputated.  His  wife,  a  young  woman  appar- 
ently under  twenty-three,  arrived  from  Connecticut  to-day,  having 
been  informed  of  his  illness  when  he  was  in  one  of  the  general 
hospitals  here.  He  is  so  much  bewildered  that  he  told  her  it  was 
only  a  week  since  he  had  seen  her,  yet  the  physicians  at  his  hos- 


1502-1505  247 

pital  thought  him  feigning  insanity.  One  minute's  observation  by 
a  person  of  experience  with  the  insane  would  prove  that  he  is 
not  feigning.  A  Michigan  soldier,  whose  case  is  sadly  interesting, 
died  a  few  days  ago.  He  was  brought  here  in  November  with  a 
bullet  wound  received  at  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run, —  a  wound  in 
the  left  temple  directly  over  the  outer  extremity  of  the  eyebrow. 
He  could  give  no  account  of  it,  except  he  said  the  bullet  had  been 
taken  out.  At  intervals  here  he  had  spasmodic  attacks  resembling 
epilepsy,  his  mind  being  weak  between  the  fits.  In  one  of  these 
paroxysms  he  died ;  and  then  the  bullet  was  found  lying  at  the  base 
of  the  brain,  over  the  back  of  the  eye-socket,  partly  flattened,  and 
divided  for  half  its  length  into  two  horn-like  projections.  Its  press- 
ure on  the  brain  had  caused  the  growth  of  a  sac-Hke  tumor  as  large 
as  a  hen's  egg ;  and  the  discharge  from  the  external  wound  came 
from  the  interior  of  this  tumor. 

I  have  been  talking  this  evening  with  a  recovered  patient  who  has 
been  more  than  a  year  in  the  Potomac  Army.  He  acknowledged 
that  McClellan  is  no  discipHnarian,  and  has  permitted  his  soldiers 
to  do  much  as  they  pleased,  that  his  dilatoriness  has  caused  the 
death  of  30,000  men,  needlessly,  of  course;  but  yet  he  is  in  favor  of 
iVIcClellan  for  our  next  President,  because  he  "was  so  kind  to  his 
men."  He  allowed,  further,  that  his  want  of  success  was  owing  to 
lack  of  discipline  in  his  army,  that  he  might,  more  than  once,  have 
gone  into  Richmond,  and  that  his  neglect  to  pursue  Lee's  army 
after  Antietam  was  a  great  blunder.  On  the  other  hand,  he  says 
that,  if  General  Hooker  had  not  been  wounded  so  early  as  he  was 
at  Antietam,  his  achievements  would  have  been  such  that  he  Avould 
then  have  been  promoted  to  the  chief  command,  as  he  has  been  of 
late.  He  complimented  Hooker's  courage,  saying  that  he  '•  would 
never  retreat  on  the  battlefield,  but  would  conquer  or  die  "  ;  yet  this 
soldier  does  not  like  Hooker,  and  says,  "  the  army  don't  like  him, 
because  he  is  so  strict."  There's  a  long  story  behind  what  this 
soldier  says,  and  a  deal  of  meaning  in  his  talk.  We  have  so  far 
failed,  and,  should  we  finally  fail,  must  continue  to  fail  to  the  end, 
because  our  generals  are  seeking  popularity  rather  than  \dctory, 
while  the  men  are  unwilling  to  submit  to  a  discipline  which  alone 
will  give  us  victory. 

On  Monday  last,  February  23,  General  Hooker  again  dined  with 
us,  and  spent  the  night,  giving  us  a  long  evening's  talk  with  him. 


248  PRESIDENT    LINCOLN'S    RECEPTIONS 

He  wished  to  have  General  Stone  —  of  Ball's  Bluff  notoriety  —  for 
his  chief  of  staff,  believing  him  to  be  loyal.  But  President  Lincoln 
told  him  that,  if  he  knew  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  he  would 
not  ask  it ;  and  so  he  selected  General  Butterfield,  of  whose  industry 
and  efficiency  he  now  speaks  in  the  highest  terms.  In  course  of  the 
evening  Mrs.  Nichols  intimated  to  the  general,  apparently  in  joke, 
the  possibility  that  the  rebels  might  make  another  raid,  and  ride 
round  his  army,  as  happened  to  his  predecessor.  General  Hooker 
answered  very  seriously  that  they  would  never  ride  round  his  army ; 
and,  not  more  than  three  days  after.  General  Stuart,  their  cavalry 
leader,  tried  the  experiment,  and  failed.  I  believe  Hooker  would 
rather  be  shot  than  have  such  an  attempt  succeed.  He  says  he 
knows  everything  that  the  rebels  are  doing,  their  camp  is  full  of 
his  spies,  and  he  supposes  that  his  own  camp  is  as  full  of  their 
spies.  One  of  them,  an  Englishman,  who  acted  as  a  spy  for  both 
sides,  running  between  Richmond  and  Washington,  and  delivering 
all  letters,  despatches,  etc.,  which  he  carried  for  individuals  directly 
to  the  government  on  the  other  side,  has  been  detected  in  his 
double  treachery,  and  shot.  In  the  famous  retreat  from  McClellan's 
intrenchments  around  Richmond  to  the  James  River,  Hooker  says 
that,  after  the  first  order  to  retreat,  neither  he  nor  General  Kearney 
either  sav/  McClellan  or  received  an  order  from  him,  and  that,  on  a 
day  when  Kearney  saw  some  movement  of  a  part  of  the  army  which 
he  did  not  understand,  Kearney  rode  rapidly  to  Hooker,  and  said, 
"There  is  either  cowardice  or  treachery  here  somewhere."  It  is 
evident  that  Hooker  believes  that  McClellan  is  greatly  responsible 
for  the  present  state  of  things  in  the  country. 

March  3. —  Saturday  last  Dr.  Nichols  and  I  went  to  the  White 
House  to  call  on  "Abraham  and  Mary  Anne,"  as  we  Friends  say,  it 
being  their  regular  day  of  reception.  The  evening  "  levees  "  have 
not  been  held  this  winter ;  but  in  their  stead  there  have  been 
"•soirees  "  in  the  morning, —  that  is,  from  one  to  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  We  arrived  about  two,  and  found  a  moderate  number  of 
people  there,  which  was  largely  increased  later.  "  Mary  Anne  "  was 
doing  the  honors  and  receiving  the  honors  without  the  assistance  of 
her  husband,  who  had  unexpectedly  been  called  to  the  Capitol  by 
some  business  in  the  Senate.  Mrs.  President  was  dressed  in  a  rich 
black  silk,  with  a  wide  lace  flounce,  and  a  train  which  lay  on  the 
floor  a  foot  behind  her.     She  wore  a  set  of  jewels, —  brooch,  ear- 


1862-1865  249 

rings,  two  bracelets,  and  a  head-band, —  all  made,  apparently,  of  jet 
and  pearls  set  in  gold.  A  man-servant  stood  behind  her, —  a  new 
custom  never  practised  by  ladies  of  the  White  House  before,  and 
perhaps  introduced  to  prevent  visitors  from  treading  on  that  train  ; 
and  a  gentleman  usher  was  very  busy  introducing  all  comers  to  Mrs. 
Lincoln.  The  Blue  Room,  where  this  occurred,  was  so  far  darkened 
by  its  heavy  blue  curtains  as  to  give  a  twilight  aspect  to  everything. 
To  tell  the  truth,  Mrs.  President  acquitted  herself  exceedingly  well, 
even  better  than  I  had  expected.  When  I  saw  her  last  spring,  with 
her  bonnet  on,  in  full  mourning,  I  thought  her  homely,  and,  in  fact, 
she  can  lay  no  claim  to  beauty ;  but  she  is  a  better-looking  woman 
and  did  this  reception  better  than  either  Mrs.  President  Polk 
or  Mrs.  Pierce,  as  I  saw  them.  A  great  deal  has  been  said  by 
the  secessionists  and  aristocrats  and  those  out  of  office  concern- 
ing her  homeliness  and  vulgarity  of  manners  ;  but,  if  her  manners 
were  "  green  "  when  she  came  to  Washington,  two  years  ago,  she  has 
succeeded  in  ripening  them  fast.  She  told  Dr.  Nichols  and  myself 
that  she  was  very  sorry  "  my  husband  "  could  not  be  present  to 
welcome  us,  but  that,  to  make  amends,  a  special  reception  was  to 
be  given  Monday  evening, —  that  is,  last  night.  We  then  took  a  walk 
through  the  extensive  greenhouses,  and  came  away ;  but,  as  we  were 
on  the  portico, —  a  continuous  train  of  carriages  arriving, —  the 
President's  carriage  appeared,  and,  while  two  full  coaches  were 
still  in  front  of  it,  "  Father  Abraham  "  slipped  quietly  out  of  it,  and 
made  his  way  to  the  door,  almost  wholly  unobserved.  There  was  a 
crowd  at  the  door.  The  President  took  his  place  in  it,  unnoticed  by 
those  near  him,  and,  without  saying  a  word,  quietly  waited  for  the 
moving  of  the  waters ;  but  he  tucked  his  hands  into  his  overcoat 
pockets,  and  drew  the  skirts  around  him,  the  air  being  rather  chill. 
As  they  came  to  the  doorway,  the  President  and  a  small,  brown- 
coated,  fur-capped  man  were  about  even  in  advantage  of  position 
for  entering ;  but  the  advantage  was  a  little  in  favor  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 
He  perceived  it,  and  gave  a  gentle  "  crowd,"  in  order  to  get  ahead. 
But  Browncoat  had  no  notion  of  being  beaten  by  such  a  lank-looking 
fellow  as  he  felt  pushing  him.  So  he  went  at  it  in  earnest,  and 
wormed  himself  in  ahead  of  Father  Abraham.  It  was  very  charac- 
teristic. 

Well,  time  moved  on ;  and,  some  fifty  hours  after  this  scene,  the 
Monday  evening  mentioned   by  Mary  Anne  had    come  along.     So 


250  "ABRAHAM  AND  MARY  ANNE 

Dr.  Nichols  and  I  went  again  to  the  White  House,  leaving  our  over- 
coats at  Miss  Dix's,  as  we  went,  for  fear  of  losing  them  in  the  crowd. 
'Twas  a  calm,  sweet  night,  with  a  bright  moon ;  and,  though  both 
houses  of  Congress  were  in  session,  their  galleries  crowded  with 
visitors,  there  was  no  lack  of  callers  on  the  President.  We  got  to 
the  rear  of  the  entering  crowd  about  nine  o'clock ;  and  there  were 
not  less  than  one  thousand  to  enter  before  our  turn  came,  and  the 
house  was  already  so  full  that  many  men  were  jumping  out  from  one 
of  the  windows.  After  we  got  inside,  there  were  several  hundred 
people  between  us  and  the  President ;  and  the  crowd  was  such  that 
Dr.  Nichols  took  a  short  cut  to  the  great  East  Room,  without  trying 
to  see  Mr.  and  Mrs,  Lincoln.  I  persevered,  and  was  triumphant.  I 
communed  with  Abraham,  and  told  him  there  was  a  lady  in  my 
neighborhood  who  sent  her  love  to  him.  And  Abraham  inquired, 
"  What  is  the  lady's  name  ?  "  And  I  lifted  up  my  voice,  and  said 
unto  him,  "  Her  name  is  Mrs.  Marshall."  Thereupon  Abraham 
exalted  his  voice  (though  it  is  and  was  then  as  soft  as  that  of  a 
deUcate  woman,  and  as  gentle),  and  said,  "  My  respects  to  her." 
The  crowd  pressed  on  behind  me.  I  was  taking  up  precious  time. 
My  message  was  delivered,  my  promise  kept :  why  then  should  I 
delay  ?  So  I  passed  on  with  the  multitude  into  the  East  Room, 
where  was  the  same  old  story  I  have  seen  and  heard  for  many  winters, 
—  a  jam  of  men  and  women,  but  an  entirely  new  set  of  men  and 
women.  With  the  exception  of  three  or  four  public  men,  I  saw  but 
two  persons  I  could  remember  ever  to  have  seen  before  ;  and  even 
Dr.  Nichols,  long  resident  here,  said  he  did  not  recognize  more  than 
a  dozen  of  his  acquaintance.  There  was  less  dress,  less  style,  much 
fewer  persons  of  really  polished  manners  than  in  former  times, —  a 
change  due  in  part  to  the  political  change  of  administration,  but  still 
more  to  the  war,  and  its  effect  in  bringing  certain  classes  of  people 
to  Washington,  and  keeping  others  at  home  or  in  the  campaigns. 
As  Congress  was  just  closing  its  session,  its  members  were  other- 
wise engaged  ;  and  I  saw  only  one  member  of  the  cabinet, —  Gideon 
Welles,  of  Connecticut.  I  spoke  with  Cassius  M.  Clay,  now  a 
general  in  the  Union  army,  with  General  Sumner, —  a  distant  cousin 
of  Charles  Sumner, —  and  with  General  Fremont,  still  a  popular  man 
from  the  events  of  the  last  ten  years.  When  it  was  whispered  that 
Fremont  was  in  the  East  Room,  there  was  a  general  rush,  or  an 
attempt  at  rushing,  to  find  him.     Seeing  this,  he  made  the  circuit  of 


I862-I865  251 

the  great  room  as  quickly  as  he  could,  through  a  dense  body  of 
bodies,  with  outstretched  hands,  eager  for  a  shake,  and  immediately 
and  quietly  left.  He  is  a  smaller  man  than  I  had  fancied  him,  his 
head  hardly  above  my  shoulder. 

As  by  this  time  Dr.  Earle  had  a  very  wide  acquaintance  all 
over  the  United  States,  this  remark  of  his  about  the  new  and 
strange  faces  at  the  White  House  receptions  has  much  mean- 
ing. The  political  and  military  revolution  of  1861  had  been 
followed  by  a  social  revolution  ;  and  the  power  of  the  United 
States,  which  had  been  lodged  in  a  few  slaveholders  at  the 
South,  controlling  the  army  and  navy,  whose  officers  were 
largely  their  relatives,  and  a  few  politicians  at  the  North,  rep- 
resented by  Buchanan,  Pierce,  Caleb  Gushing,  the  Van  Burens, 
and  Douglas, —  this  power  was  again  returned  to  the  hands  of  the 
people,  who  were  carrying  on  the  war  and  freeing  the  slaves  in 
their  own  fashion,  without  heeding  the  old  men  or  the  old 
traditions.  These  for  the  moment  were  represented  at  the 
North  by  the  displaced  General  McGlellan,  at  this  very  time 
receiving  honors  and  applause  from  the  Northern  men  with 
Southern  principles,  who  had  lost  office  and  influence  when 
Lincoln  became  President.  It  was  a  covert  —  and  soon  to  be 
open  —  attack  on  the  administration  ;  to  overthrow  which  Mc- 
Glellan was  brought  forward  as  a  Presidential  candidate  the 
next  year,  1864,  but  signally  defeated  in  the  popular  vote. 

A  similar  change  was  noted  at  Washington  when  Andrew 
Jackson  succeeded  John  Quincy  Adams  as  President  in  1829; 
and  the  sweeping  change  in  officials  then  made  was  much  more 
than  repeated  under  President  Lincoln,  whose  first  act  on  assum- 
ing power  was  to  fill  the  offices,  great  and  small,  with  his  own 
supporters.  As  the  war  went  on,  he  appointed  many  "War 
Democrats "  ;  but  the  McGlellan  episode  threw  many  of  that 
class  back  into  their  old  party  relations,  imbittered  for  a  time 
by  the  emancipation  decrees  of  Lincoln,  which  had  culminated 
a  few  weeks  after  McGlellan's  removal  in  November,  1862. 
The  same  men  in  Boston  who  had  attacked  the  emancipation 
policy  in  August  and  September,  1862,  united  with  others  of 
the  military  profession  in  April,  1863,  in  giving  McGlellan  a 


252  INCIDENTS    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR 

sword,  which  he  was  invited  to  use  "for  the  administration, 
when  it  behaves  itself "  ;  that  is,  when  it  should  give  up  its 
pohcy  of  freeing  and  arming  the  blacks. 

Monday,  April  6,  1863. —  This  month  came  in  with  as  delightful 
spring  weather  as  could  be  wished, —  with  bird-songs,  the  bursting  of 
lilac-buds  in  the  Washington  gardens,  green  lawns,  and  other  pledges 
of  summer.  But  now  we  are  in  the  midst  of  snow  and  frost, —  yester- 
day morning  six  inches  of  snow,  which  to-morrow  will  be  all  gone, 
leaving  its  postscript  of  mud.  And  along  with  these  changes  of 
weather  we  are  having  an  epidemic  of  small-pox, —  no  less  than  ten 
cases  of  it  in  this  hospital, —  yet  no  one  of  our  five  hundred  inmates 
manifests  any  alarm  at  it ;  while  one  case  in  the  city  of  Worcester 
would  set  Leicester  and  all  Worcester  County  in  an  uproar  of  alarm. 
Such  is  man's  power  of  adapting  himself  to  his  miseries. 

On  the  evening  of  March  3 1  I  went  to  the  great  Union  meeting  at 
the  Capitol,  at  which  the  President  and  his  cabinet  were  present. 
I  succeeded  in  getting  a  place  directly  beside  the  Speaker's  desk  in 
the  great  House  Chamber;  and  directly  in  front  of  me  sat  the 
President,  and  Secretaries  Seward,  Chase,  and  Usher,  and  the  Post- 
master-general, Montgomery  Blair.  So  for  three  hours  I  looked  our 
government  in  the  face,  at  only  a  few  feet  distance.  The  Presi- 
dent looked  no  fatter  nor  handsomer  than  usual.  His  little  boy  [Tad] 
was  with  him,  sitting,  most  of  the  time,  in  his  lap,  and  now  and  then 
bearding  his  face.  Seward  looked  old  and  worn ;  Chase,  fat,  good- 
humored,  and  hearty,  just  like  his  face  on  the  dollar  greenbacks  ; 
Blair,  rather  lean  and  nervous.  The  long  speech  of  the  evening  was 
by  Andrew  Johnson,  military  governor  of  Tennessee,  which  State  he 
used  to  represent  in  Congress.  It  was  a  loyal  and  patriotic  speech, 
with  many  good  points;  but  it  showed  that  "Andy"  never  wore  out 
many  grammars  at  school,  and  was  never  mentally  disciplined  by 
chopping  logic.  He  often  brought  down  the  house,  got  many 
thumps  from  Seward's  cane  on  the  floor,  and  once,  at  least,  set  the 
President's  feet  "dancing  the  hard-heeled  shuffle."  * 

While  waiting  for  the  meeting  to  assemble,  and  wandering  about 

•  When  the  legal-tender  paper  currency  was  issued  by  Mr.  Chase  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  he 
was  allowed  to  have  his  o\mi  handsome  head  engraved  on  the  most  numerous  issue, —  the  dollar-bills, — 
so  that  his  face  became  known  to  more  of  the  soldiers  and  other  citizens  than  that  of  any  other  living 
statesman  in  America.  It  was  afterwards  said  that  this  was  one  of  his  bids  for  the  Presidency,  which 
never  came  to  him. 


1S62-1865  253 

the  House  to  see  whom  I  knew  and  whom  I  knew  not,  I  reached  the 
west  end  of  the  chamber,  and  there  found  seated  in  the  back  row  of 
representatives'  chairs,  behind  those  formerly  occupied  by  Giddings 
of  Ohio  and  my  pupil  of  olden  time,  Buffington  of  Fall  River,  an 
interesting  group  of  Ute  Indians  from  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This 
warlike  tribe  has  always  been  friendly  to  Uncle  Sam  ;  and  now  they 
have  been  brought  here  to  show  them  how  big  a  man  our  Uncle  is, 
and  so  preserve  their  friendship,  and  keep  them  from  going  over  to 
the  rebels,  as  some  of  the  Southern  tribes  have  done.  A  delicate, 
smooth-faced  young  white  man  sat  with  them,  who  said  he  had  them 
in  charge  ;  and  thereupon  I  had  much  conversation  with  him.  He 
told  me  their  tribe  numbers  about  twenty-three  thousand, —  men, 
women,  and  children.  They  regard  us  whites  as  an  inferior  race, 
and  one  of  this  party  told  the  Indian  Commissioner  the  day  before 
that  in  case  of  war  they  could  whip  us.  He  was  going  to  take  them 
the  next  day  to  see  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  after  which,  he  thought, 
they  would  change  their  minds. 

Soon  after  this  date  Dr.  Earle  returned  to  Leicester  for  the 
summer  of  1863,  and  vi^as  then  chosen  Professor  of  Psychologic 
Medicine  in  the  Berkshire  Medical  Institute,  a  temporary 
medical  school,  where  for  several  years  Dr.  Holmes,  the  poet- 
anatomist,  had  lectured.  This  was  the  first  time  in  the  United 
States  that  mental  diseases  were  recognized  as  a  necessary  part 
of  the  study  of  medical  science,  though  they  had  long  been  so 
considered  in  Germany  and  other  European  countries.  Indeed, 
the  University  of  Zurich  has  many  years  had  for  its  professor 
of  psychiatry  the  director  of  the  Cantonal  Asylum  of  Burg- 
hoelzli,  near  by  ;  and  such  would  have  been  Dr.  Earle's  posi- 
tion at  Pittsfield,  after  his  election  to  the  superintendency  of  the 
Northampton  Hospital,  had  the  Medical  Institute  continued. 
He  gave  his  introductory  address  at  the  Commencement  in 
November,  1863,  and  then  proceeded  to  Washington  again, 
where  for  six  months  he  was  once  more  associated  with  Dr. 
Nichols  at  the  Government  Hospital.  The  admissions  of  army 
patients  had  much  increased,  as  the  war  went  on,  and  during 
this  winter  of  1863-64  were  nearly  forty  a  month,  or  more  than 
one  a  day.     His  diary  recommences  thus  :  — 


2  54  HENRY    WARD    BEECHER 

Washington,  Dec.  2,  1863. —  I  was  nearly  a  week  on  my  way  here 
by  Pittsfield,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia.  November  24  I  gave 
my  address  at  Pittsfield  on  "  Psychologic  Medicine "  to  a  small 
audience.  It  seemed  to  give  general  satisfaction.  The  next  day  I 
went  to  New  York,  and  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  the  27th,  went  across 
the  ferry  to  Brooklyn,  and  attended  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  church 
there.  Every  spot  large  enough  for  a  standing- place  was  occupied, 
and  the  Express  newspaper  (no  friend  to  Beecher)  says  more  people 
were  turned  away  than  could  get  in.  His  sermon  had  for  object 
to  show  what  we  have  to  be  thankful  for,  as  a  nation.  This  naturally 
led  him  to  speak  of  the  war  and  the  condition  of  the  country  since 
emancipation.  He  had  been  speaking  but  a  few  minutes  when  a  few 
of  the  audience  ventured  to  applaud  him.  The  ice  thus  broken, 
more  and  more  joined  in  the  applause,  until  finally,  when  he  said 
that  the  names  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  would  go  down  to 
posterity  linked  together,  the  whole  audience  "  came  down  "  with 
a  tremendous  clapping  of  hands. 

Immediately  after  my  arrival  here  I  settled  quietly  down  into  the 
hospital  routine,  and  have  thus  continued.  My  duties  are  much  less 
arduous  than  last  winter.  Dr.  W.  W.  Godding,*  who  came  here  in 
September  last,  filling  the  place  I  then  had,  while  I  have  charge  of 
the  insane  women  and  negroes ;  and  Dr.  Stevens  has  the  sole  care 
of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  in  St.  Elizabeth's  Hospital,  and  Dr. 
Gunnell  still  acts  as  surgeon  to  the  naval  hospital,  as  last  year.  I 
continue  my  lectures  to  the  inmates  of  all  the  hospitals  on  the  even- 
ings of  Monday  and  Friday  each  week,  while  on  Wednesday  evening 
there  is  a  dance  or  some  other  entertainment ;  and  we  have  an 
excellent  musical  choir. 

The  farm  which  joins  the  hospital  farm  on  the  south  was  taken  by 
the  government  last  summer  as  a  cavalry  depot ;  and  the  number  of 
horses  kept  there  varies  from  10,000  to  15,000.  The  extent  of  this 
establishment,  as  well  as  the  fate  of  horses  in  war-time,  may  be  con- 
ceived from  the  fact  that  the  government  is  advertising  for  twenty- 
five  men  skilled  in  skinning  horses.  In  consequence  of  this  accession 
to  our  neighborhood  the  travel  on  our  road  has  increased  tenfold  ; 
and  there  is  an  almost  constant  procession  of  cavalry,  of  newly 
bought  horses,  of  condemned  ones,  of  soldiers,  and  of  army  wagons 
with  supplies.     One  night  several  thousand  horses  broke  from  the 

*  Now  at  the  liead  of  the  Government  Hospital. 


1862-1865  255 

enclosure,  and  the  next  morning  were  scattered  in  roads  and  fields 
all  about  the  neighborhood,  nearly  a  hundred  having  been  drowned 
in  the  Eastern  Branch  by  the  bridge  where  we  cross  in  driving  to 
Washington. 

Dr.  Godding,  here  first  mentioned,  remained  an  assistant 
physician  at  the  Washington  Hospital  until  he  was  chosen  to 
succeed  Dr.  G.  C.  S.  Choate  as  superintendent  of  the  Taunton 
(Massachusetts)  Hospital.  Remaining  there  until  1877,  he  was 
then  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Washington  Hospital,  of  which 
he  is  still  the  honored  superintendent.  He  has  given  me  some 
recollections  of  Dr.  Earle  during  their  early  acquaintance,  as 
follows :  — 

I  first  knew  Dr.  Earle  here  in  the  autumn  of  1863,  he  having  charge 
of  the  female  department  and  I  of  the  male  patients, —  both  assistants 
to  Dr.  Nichols,  the  superintendent.  It  was  while  serving  here,  in 
the  spring  of  1864,  that  he  was  visited  by  a  committee  of  the  trustees 
of  the  Northampton  Hospital,  and  shortly  after  appointed  to  its 
superintendency.  I  was  intimately  associated  with  the  doctor  dur- 
ing that  six  months  of  1863-64;  and  later,  when  from  1870  to  1877 
I  was  in  charge  of  the  State  Hospital  at  Taunton,  I  frequently  met 
him. 

Dr.  Earle  in  1863,  then  in  his  fifty-fourth  year,  was  still  a  remark- 
ably good-looking  man ;  and,  though  myself  twenty-one  years  younger, 
I  found  him  very  companionable  and  agreeable.  He  had  already 
a  reputation  as  a  statistician,  and  had  published  much  in  the  Jourfial 
of  Insanity  and  elsewhere  on  mental  disorders.  He  had  travelled  in 
Europe,  had  been  assistant  physician  at  the  Frankford  Asylum,  and 
had  been  in  charge  at  Bloomingdale.  Earlier  he  had  been  a  teacher 
in  the  Friends'  School  at  Providence,  R.I.,  and  had  that  thorough 
equipment  in  the  fundamental  branches,  including  English  grammar, 
for  which  those  "  Friends'  "  Schools  are  famous.  I  profited  by  his 
knowledge ;  and,  such  leisure  moments  as  we  had,  I  enjoyed  convers- 
ing and  associating  with  him.  I  say  associating,  for  he  was  fond  of 
games ;  and  Dr.  Stevens  and  I,  after  the  evening  work  was  over,  often 
utilized  the  office  table  for  a  game  of  cards  with  him.  Dr.  Earle 
preferred  to  beat.  Indeed,  he  did  not  take  being  beaten  kindly ;  and 
we,  early  discovering  his  foible,  and  not  having  the  fear  of  his  su- 


256  DR.     EARLE    IN    GAMES 

perior  age  and  wisdom  before  our  eyes,  often  combined  to  throw  the 
game  into  one  or  the  other  of  our  two  hands.  He,  honest  and  un- 
suspecting, sometimes  was  so  outrageously  beaten  as  to  need  all  his 
will-power  and  philosophy  to  withdraw  in  anything  like  a  devotional 
frame  of  mind.  The  same  was  true  of  billiards.  He  was  fond  of 
the  cue,  and  we  were  able  to  win  on  that  game. 

But  he  went  up  to  Northampton,  and  there  found  time  to  perfect 
himself  in  those  caroms  and  curves,  so  that,  returning  on  a  visit  to 
St.  Elizabeth  some  years  later,  he  challenged  the  knights  of  the  cue, 
and  "laid  out"  every  one  of  us.  I  have  somewhere  among  my 
papers  an  interesting  souvenir  of  the  good  doctor, —  an  illustrated 
pen  and  ink  series,  sent  after  his  return  to  Northampton, —  illustrating 
"  Ye  Visit  of  Ye  Earle  of  Leicester  to  his  friend  Kinge  Nicholas  at 
Ye  St.  Elizabeth,  with  serratim  views  of  ye  overthrow  and  dis- 
comforture  of  ye  Philistines." 

He  was  a  most  methodic  and  painstaking,  conscientious  man. 
He  introduced  many  methods  at  St.  Elizabeth  that  bore  testimony  to 
this.  He  evolved  a  form  for  registry  of  cases,  and  induced  the 
superintendent  to  adopt  it  in  place  of  that  in  use,  which  —  when  I 
came,  years  later,  to  take  charge  of  the  same  side  —  I  found  both 
exhaustive  and  exhausting. 

Another  instance  of  his  methodic  ways  while  I  was  associated 
with  him  was  the  episode  of  his  chewing  tobacco.  He  decided  one 
morning  that  he  was  using  too  much  tobacco, —  that  he  would  gradu- 
ally withdraw,  and  cut  off  his  ration  altogether.  He  was  nothing, 
unless  methodic ;  and  every  morning  for  a  week  or  more  he  daily 
weighed  out  five  grains  less  of  his  "  fine  cut."  He  would  call  atten- 
tion to  it,  and  dilate  on  the  ease  with  which  a  resolute  man  could 
conquer  an  appetite  that  had  begun  to  control  him.  This  ingenious 
process  continued  for  perhaps  a  week  longer,  when  one  morning, 
noticing  a  cloud  on  his  face,  I  ventured  to  ask  how  many  grains  he 
had  taken  off  that  morning.  He  replied  "  that  he  wasn't  well,  that 
he  was  in  no  condition  to  continue  it  at  that  time."  I  never  saw 
him  resort  to  the  scales  after  that,  but  I  think  the  tobacco  pouch 
remained  by  him. 

These  facts  simply  show  that  my  friend  was  human,  like  all  the 
rest  of  us.  Foibles  he  had,  but  they  touch  not  one  whit  the  integ- 
rity of  his  life  or  the  value  of  his  work. 


1862-1865  257 

Dr.  Earle's  diary  continues:  — 

Jan.  28,  1864. —  I  have  some  leisure  from  hospital  duties,  and 
devote  the  time  to  medical  reading  for  my  first  course  of  lectures  at 
Pittsfield  next  autumn.  I  have  received  and  declined  an  invitation 
to  deliver  the  address  at  the  annual  Commencement  of  the  Medical 
School  in  the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  in  the  latter 
part  of  March.  The  number  of  insane  soldiers  much  increases  here, 
in  spite  of  the  public  assertion  of  Rev.  Dr.  Bellows,  of  the  Sanitary 
Commission,  that  no  man  in  the  Union  army  had  become  insane 
since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  But  upwards  of  40  have  been  ad- 
mitted here  since  January  i  from  the  armies  of  the  East  and  South 
alone,  besides  27  who  all  came  at  once,  each  under  charge  of 
another  soldier,  from  General  Grant's  army.  Thus  more  than  70 
have  been  received  in  twenty-seven  days.  Last  year  they  only  came 
at  the  rate  of  6  a  week. 

I  notice  a  remarkable  change  of  sentiment  in  Washington  since 
last  winter.  Emancipation  is  generally  accepted  as  an  established 
fact,  even  by  those  most  opposed  to  it ;  and  it  is  admitted,  even  by 
the  friends  of  General  McClellan,  that  Lincoln  is  to  be  re-elected 
President  this  year.  And  so  (since  it  would  be  hard  to  give  up  all 
court  society  for  five  years  longer)  "  old  Abe  "  has  risen  in  the  esti- 
mation of  Washington  people  of  the  old  regime,  and  Mrs.  Lincoln 
has  callers  who  formerly  "turned  up  the  nose  "  at  her.  In  general, 
society  is  accommodating  itself  to  the  new  state  of  things,  and  grad- 
ually returning  to  its  smooth  current  of  outward  harmonj^.  There 
are  more  evening  parties,  more  sociability.  Since  the  middle  of 
January  the  weather  has  been  such  as  we  have  on  the  hills  of 
Leicester  in  May, —  no  frost  in  the  ground,  some  fields  quite  green, 
overcoats  often  a  burden,  windows  open  for  comfort,  etc. 

February  21. —  My  course  of  life  in  the  midst  of  war  is  very  even. 
Breakfast,  a  walk  through  the  wards  of  the  women's  department,  the 
preparation  of  medicine  for  my  patients,  a  look  at  the  morning  news- 
paper, lunch,  sometimes  with  visitors,  as  formerly,  the  reading  of 
medical  books  or  insanity  statistics,  perhaps  a  game  of  billiards  with 
one  of  the  men  patients,  then  dinner  at  five,  and  an  evening  occu- 
pation varying  between  lectures,  reading,  and  a  second  visit  to  my 
wards, —  such  is  the  sum  of  my  existence.  I  sometimes  go  to  the 
weekly  dance,  but  only  as  a  spectator. 


258  ANTI-SLAVERY    AND    ANNA    DICKINSON 

In  January  I  went  to  the  anti-slavery  meeting  in  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  which  was  addressed  by  the  celebrated 
young  political  lecturer  from  Philadelphia,  Anna  Dickinson.  The 
lowest  price  of  tickets  was  fifty  cents;  yet  the  hall  was  full,  with 
many  standing  in  the  doorways  and  sitting  on  the  steps  in  the 
galleries.  The  President,  Vice-President,  Speaker  of  the  House, 
many  senators  and  representatives,  and  some  1,800  other  persons 
were  there  to  hear  an  out-and-out  anti-slavery  address,  which  at 
every  expression  of  radical  sentiment  was  greeted  with  an  uproar 
of  applause.  It  was  evidently  repeated  from  memory,  yet  in  every 
respect  well  delivered.  She  was  perfectly  composed,  though  in  the 
presence  of  an  audience  that  would  discompose  most  men ;  but  who 
would  have  thought  ten  years  ago,  when  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill 
was  forced  through  Congress  to  extend  and  perpetuate  slavery, 
that  in  January,  1864,  a  woman  would  stand  there  and  glory  in 
emancipation  proclaimed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  ? 
Verily,  the  world  does  move  ;  and  when  will  "the  Union  as  it  was  " 
come  back  again  ? 

This  month  I  was  at  a  party  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Kennedy,  the 
superintendent  of  the  census,  whose  parlors  are  not  large,  and  who 
generally  gives  parties  for  men  alone.  More  distinguished  men  were 
at  this  one  than  I  ever  met  before  at  a  private  party  anywhere. 
Members  of  the  Senate  and  House,  Judge  Usher,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  among  them  Admiral  Charles 
Wilkes,  who  took  Mason  and  Slidell  from  the  "  Trent,"  and  almost 
brought  on  war  with  England  thereby.  Dr.  Peter  Parker,  many  years 
a  missionary  in  China,  Judge  Holt  of  Kentucky,  and  many  of  the 
foreign  ambassadors  were  present,  among  them  Lord  Lyons  and 
Baron  Stoeckel,  the  Russian  envoy. 

Miss  Dix  came  to  this  hospital  yesterday,  and  is  still  here.  She 
lately  visited  the  Virginia  Insane  Hospital  at  Williamsburg,  now 
supported  by  the  Federal  government,  and  reports  it  in  excellent 
order  and  well  supplied.  On  her  return  she  travelled  in  company 
with  twenty-five  of  our  army  officers,  who  had  escaped  from  the  Libby 
Prison  in  Richmond,  and  heard  some  sad  tales  from  them,  so  that 
she  is  not  much  in  love  with  the  rebels.  Dr.  Stevens  has  had  letters 
from  General  Hooker  at  the  South-west,  who  writes  that  there  is  little 
to  prevent  our  armies  in  that  quarter  from  going  to  Mobile  or 
Charleston  when  they  choose. 


1862-1865  259 

By  this  time  General  Hooker,  who  had  resigned  the  com- 
mand of  the  Potomac  Army  just  before  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
and  had  won  renown  at  Lookout  Mountain  in  September,  1863, 
was  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  in  Tennessee, 
and  General  Grant  had  been  selected  to  take  command  of  all 
the  armies  in  the  field.  He  came  to  Washington  early  in 
March,  and  there  met  the  President  for  the  first  time,  though 
both  had  been  citizens  of  Illinois  for  years.  Late  in  April  he 
took  personal  command  of  the  Potomac  Army,  and  moved 
against  Richmond,  proposing  "to  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if 
it  takes  all  summer."  It  did  take  all  summer  and"  the  next 
winter;  but  Dr.  Earle  did  not  remain  in  Washington  to  see 
the  close  of  the  war  in  April,  1865.  His  last  entry  at  the 
Government  Hospital  is  dated  May  24,  1864,  when  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  American  Association  of  Medical  Superintend- 
ents of  the  Insane,  a  body  which  he  had  helped  to  found 
twenty  years  before,  had  just  closed  its  sessions  in  Washington. 
His  diary  for  May  says  :  — 

The  number  of  our  insane  has  so  much  increased,  as  the  war  goes 
on,  that  it  has  been  concluded  to  break  up  the  hospital  for  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  (St.  Elizabeth's),  which  for  almost  three  years 
has  occupied  the  eastern  part  of  these  large  buildings.  Other 
hospitals  have  been  provided  for  them.  So  the  one-legged  and  the 
sick  were  removed  May  2  and  3,  and  their  places  are  henceforth 
devoted  to  the  insane.  General  Grant  crossed  the  Rapidan  on  the 
3d,  and  we  are  making  preparations  here  and  at  the  army  hospitals 
for  the  great  swath  of  men  who  are  now  being  cut  down  by  the 
scythe  of  war.  It  has  been  a  lovely  spring.  On  May  Day  I  took  a 
long  walk  through  the  fields  and  woods  of  our  premises,  while  every- 
thing was  in  the  full  flush  of  early  spring.  The  forests  were  tenderly 
green  with  the  foliage  of  the  tulip-tree  (liriodendron)  and  the  maples, 
and  the  ground  beneath  was  sprinkled  with  many  flowers.  The 
blood-root,  hepatica,  and  epigsea  had  bloomed  and  gone.  The  anem. 
ones,  claytonia,  violets,  and  flowering  cornel  were  then  in  bloom. 
Elsewhere  the  cherry  and  apple  blossoms  were  abundant,  the  lilacs 
opening  their  first  blossoms,  and  the  grass  was  waving  in  the  breeze, 
almost  tall  enough  for  the  scythe.     At  the  Association  meeting  last 


2  6o  LAST    INTERVIEW    WITH    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 

week,  only  about  twenty  members  were  present,  twenty  hospitals 
being  represented  out  of  twice  that  number,  such  being  an  effect 
of  the  war.  We  went  in  a  body,  so  many  as  we  were,  to  call  on 
"  Uncle  Abe  "  at  the  White  House.  He  looked  thin,  worn,  and 
haggard ;  but  we  were  so  early  he  had  not  breakfasted.  Notwith- 
standing our  small  numbers,  he  told  us  there  was  enough  of  us, 
he  reckoned,  "  to  keep  everybody  straight  or  else  make  everybody 
crooked." 

And  with  this  interview  Dr.  Earle's  personal  acquaintance 
with  Abraham  Lincoln  seems  to  have  ended.  He  was  assassi- 
nated eleven  months  after,  having  in  the  mean  time  been  re- 
elected and  seen  the  end  of  the  Civil  War.  In  the  June  fol- 
lowing this  interview  Dr.  Earle  was  chosen  superintendent  of 
the  State  Lunatic  Hospital  of  Massachusetts  at  Northampton, 
and  took  charge  of  the  350  patients  there  July  2,  1864.  About 
that  time  my  acquaintance  with  him  began ;  for  I  had  then 
been  for  nine  months  secretary  of  the  first  Board  of  State 
Charities  ever  established  in  America,  and  had  among  my 
official  duties  the  visitation  and  inspection  of  the  insane  under 
public  and  private  treatment.  In  what  follows,  therefore,  I 
speak  from  intimate  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Earle  and  his 
work. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

NORTHAMPTON  AND  THE  CURABILITY  CONTROVERSY. 

Massachusetts  had  aided  in  the  establishment  of  the 
McLean  Asylum  for  the  Insane  as  a  branch  of  her  General 
Hospital  before  1820,  but  built  no  State  hospital  until  1832, 
when  that  at  Worcester  (now  used  as  a  chronic  asylum)  was 
erected.  A  second  State  hospital  was  opened  at  Taunton  in 
1854:  and  so  rapidly  had  the  insane  increased  that  a  third  was 
begun  soon  after  at  Northampton,  which  was  the  largest  and 
costliest  then  existing  in  Massachusetts,  and  was  opened  in 
1858.  Its  early  administration  was  unsatisfactory.  It  had  cost 
more  than  was  estimated,  and  its  finances  never  had  reached  a 
proper  balance  of  income  and  outlay.  Its  patients  were  largely 
drawn  from  the  chronic  cases  in  the  older  hospitals,  and  were 
mostly  incurable.  Its  first  superintendent,  Dr.  Prince,  though 
an  agreeable  man,  had  no  special  fitness  for  the  position  and 
no  proper  training  in  the  management  of  large  expenditures. 
Consequently,  the  hospital  was  usually  in  debt.  Its  medical 
staff  was  unequal  to  the  moderate  requirements  of  that  period, 
—  so  much  less  exacting  than  our  day, —  and  the  discipline  of 
attendants  and  patients  left  much  to  be  desired.  Finally,  public 
criticism,  too  long  withheld,  led  to  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Prince. 
Private  censure  had  not  been  withheld  from  early  in  the  hos- 
pital's history.  A  few  months  after  its  opening,  Miss  Doro- 
thea Dix,  in  pursuance  of  her  habit  of  making  unannounced 
visits  to  the  hospitals  for  the  insane,  and  perhaps  not  wholly 
satisfied  with  the  selection  of  the  superintendent  (which  was 
generally  ascribed  to  favoritism  and  politics),  descended  upon 
the  courteous  host  and  hostess  at  the  Northampton  institution, 
and,  after  leaving  them,  wrote  as  follows :  — 

Boston,  Oct.  22,  1S58. 
Dear  Sir, —  I  have  time  for  writing  but  briefly ;   but  I  desire  to 
thank  both  yourself  and  Mrs.  Prince  for  the  very  kind  reception 


262  MISS    DIX    AT    NORTHAMPTON 

extended  to  your  abrupt  and  uninvited  guest ;  and  to  express  by 
word  to  yourself  the  sense  of  quiet  satisfaction  I  had,  in  seeing  the 
Institution  you  direct  under  so  favorable  circumstances.  Indeed, 
so  many  conditions  of  things  and  persons  satisfied  me  so  well  (es- 
pecially by  contrasts)  that  I  do  not  like  to  put  myself  in  an  ungra- 
cious attitude  by  objecting  to  anything  which  came  under  notice. 
You  will  excuse  my  candor,  I  am  sure,  '■A  for  your  sake  as  well  as  for 
that  of  your  patients,  I  allude  to  one  point, —  the  exposure  of  your 
patients  in  the  Chapel  to  the  remarks  and  observations  of  strangers 
and  writers,  which  will  surely  lessen  confidence  in  the  public  mind, — 
eager  as  most  persons  are  to  push  into  the  interior  of  all  such  Insti- 
tutions, they  feel  differently  when  their  friends  are  objects  of  curious, 
useless  notice.  ...  I  have  a  hundred  things  to  say,  but  no  time  now. 
Should  you  write,  please  direct  Care  of  Brown  &  Dix,  Milk  Street, 
Boston.  yr  fd 

D.  L.  Dix. 

This  note,  with  its  underscoring  and  abbreviation  (the  latter 
only  shown  above  in  the  signature),  is  characteristic  of  the 
writer,  who  followed  the  advice  of  Tasso,  and  mixed  honey  with 
the  "sacred  bitters"  {hiera  pikra)  of  the  censure  she  was  not 
slow  to  impart.  She  shrewdly  pointed  at  a  blemish  that  long 
existed  at  Northampton,  and  increased  in  some  ways,  until  it 
was  swiftly  swept  away  by  Dr.  Earle's  discipline. 

The  new  Board  of  State  Charities  secured  the  needful  ap- 
propriation of  money  from  the  State ;  and,  after  an  interval  of 
three  months.  Dr.  Earle,  whose  appointment  had  been  favored 
by  the  State  Board,  took  charge  of  the  medical  and  general 
affairs  of  the  establishment.  He  found  the  bonds  of  discipline 
much  relaxed,  and  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  patients  appar- 
ently curable.  Out  of  more  than  200  whom  the  State  supported 
there  from  its  own  treasury,  only  7  were  reported  to  me  in 
September,  1864,  as  curable,  of  whom,  in  fact,  only  4  did  re- 
cover. The  farm  was  not  large  enough,  and  had  been  ill- 
cultivated.  In  short,  everything  needed  the  eye  and  hand  of 
a  skilful  master.  It  was  then  seen  how  valuable  had  been  the 
varied  experience  and  the  world-wide  observation  of  the  new 
superintendent,  and  especially  how  useful  was  his  early  training 
in  frugal  and  practical  industries. 


I864-I885  263 

Dr.  Earle,  though  fifty-four  years  old,  was  then  in  the  full 
vigor  of  life.  His  uncertain  health,  occasionally  yielding  to 
periods  of  depression  such  as  led  to  his  resignation  at  Bloom- 
ingdale,  had  been  confirmed  by  age  and  by  careful  attention  to 
exercise  and  recreation.  The  affairs  of  the  nation,  after  years 
of  trial  and  doubt,  were  taking  the  favorable  turn  which  led  to 
peace  the  following  year,  and  to  the  final  removal  of  the  na- 
tional plague  of  slavery;  and  he  rejoiced  in  the  opportunity 
of  testing,  in  a  practical  way,  the  ideas  he  had  long  held  con- 
cerning the  moral  treatment  and  manual  occupation  of  the 
insane.  He  could  have  desired  a  more  hopeful  class  of  subjects 
for  his  treatment ;  yet  that,  also,  he  gradually  secured  by  the 
admission  of  a  much  larger  number  of  private  patients,  attracted 
from  other  States  by  his  high  professional  reputation.  This 
number  soon  doubled  ;  and,  at  the  end  of  five  years  from  Dr. 
Earle's  coming,  it  was  trebled.  This  of  itself  gave  the  hospital 
more  ease  in  its  finances  ;  for  the  price  paid  by  the  private 
patients  was  more  than  their  cost,  while  the  pauper  patients, 
who  made  nearly  nine-tenths  of  the  whole  number  in  1864, 
were  then  costing  more  than  was  paid  for  their  support.  At 
the  end  of  Dr.  Earle's  fourth  year  not  only  had  the  valuation  of 
the  hospital  property  increased  by  nearly  ;^30,ooo  since  he 
came,  but  the  trustees  were  able  to  say,  "For  the  first  time 
since  the  founding  of  the  hospital  we  have  passed  a  year  with- 
out borrowing  money";  and  they  closed  the  year  with  a  bal- 
ance of  nearly  ;^  10,000  in  hand.  This  balance  went  on  increas- 
ing—  though  often  drawn  upon  for  other  than  current  expenses 
—  until,  when  Dr.  Earle  resigned  in  1885,  it  stood  at  $34,000; 
while  the  valuation  figures  had  gone  up  from  1^272,000  in  1864 
to  more  than  ^440,000  in  1885.  This  gain  came  from  the  high 
cultivation  of  the  enlarged  farm,  the  better  labor  of  the  em- 
ployed patients,  the  systematic  handling  of  all  expenditure,  and 
for  a  time  the  increased  income  from  private  patients. 

By  this  prudent  management  of  the  hospital.  Dr.  Earle  dis- 
armed criticism  on  the  economic  side,  and  made  his  establish- 
ment popular  with  the  legislature  and  the  State  authorities, 
who  had  been  accustomed  to  see  it  a  frequent  applicant  for 
appropriations,  not  only  for  repairs  and  new  buildings  (as  was 


264  THE    NORTHAMPTON    HOSPITAL 

the  case  with  other  hospitals),  but  for  deficiencies  in  its  current 
expenses.  To  meet  the  lack  of  a  working  capital,  which  every 
new  hospital  feels,  the  Board  of  State  Charities,  in  accord  with 
Dr.  Earle,  procured  advance  payments  for  nine-tenths  of  the 
State  patients  there  (which  was  perfectly  safe,  since  they  were 
permanent  boarders),  and  thus  enabled  him  to  make  cash  pur- 
chases, and  thereby  reduce  the  current  cost.  This  he  also 
reduced  materially  by  introducing  the  system  of  distributing 
supplies  which  he  had  seen  practised  in  frugal  Germany ;  each 
person  employed  being  made  accountable  for  the  articles  de- 
livered upon  his  request,  and  thus  becoming  more  careful 
against  waste  or  theft, —  the  latter  by  no  means  unknown  for- 
merly in  such  establishments.  In  this  way  he  became  a  model 
for  other  hospitals  to  follow,  as  they  gradually  did,  but  not  till 
some  of  them  had  suffered  from  extravagance  and  peculation 
so  as  to  attract  public  notice. 

What  the  condition  of  his  patients  was  in  respect  to  cura- 
bility will  appear  from  Dr.  Earle's  second  annual  report, 
covering  his  first  full  year  at  Northampton  (from  Oct.  i,  1864, 
to  the  same  date  in  1865)  :  — 

The  size  of  this  hospital  being  disproportionate  to  the  population 
of  the  four  western  counties  and  that  part  of  Worcester  County 
which  sends  its  insane  to  Northampton,  it  has  constantly  been  made 
the  receptacle  for  the  incurables  of  the  other  two  hospitals  (at 
Worcester  and  Taunton),  which  are  filled  to  overflowing  from  the 
cities  and  denser  settlements  of  Eastern  Massachusetts.  Of  the  134 
patients  admitted  in  the  year,  44  were  transferred  from  those  hospi- 
tals ;  and  the  recovery  of  any  one  of  these  is  extremely  doubtful. 
Again,  town  authorities  in  this  section  of  the  State  appear  but  little 
disposed  to  bring  their  insane  to  this  hospital,  so  long  as  they  can  be 
taken  care  of  in  the  poorhouses  or  at  their  homes  ;  and  the  same  is 
too  often  true  of  the  families  of  private  boarders  or  pay-patients.* 

♦•The  usage  in  Massachusetts  was  and  still  is  to  admit  three  classes  of  patients  (in  respect  to  tlieir 
means  of  support)  to  its  State  hospitals  and  asylums,  of  which  there  are  now  nine  instead  of  three,  as 
in  1S65:  I.  State  patients,  having  no  ascertained  "settlement"  or  legal  residence  in  any  city  or  town; 
2.  Town  patients,  poor  persons  having  such  settlement  in  some  city  or  town ;  3.  Private  patients, 
chiefly  from  Massachusetts,  for  whom  board  was  paid  by  their  friends  or  from  their  own  property. 
The  first  class  were  paid  for  by  the  State ;  the  second,  by  their  municipality ;  the  third,  as  above  stated. 
In  October,  1865,  Northampton  Hospital  had  235  State  patients,  48  town  patients,  and  69  of  the  third 
class. 


I864-I885  265 

A  few  weeks  since  a  man  was  received  here  who  had  been  insane 
forty  years,  and  during  the  last  eleven  had  been  chained  by  the  leg 
to  a  staple  in  the  floor  of  a  room  in  the  house  of  a  relative.  He  had 
never  before  been  in  a  hospital.  For  these  and  other  reasons,  out 
of  134  admitted  in  the  year,  the  disease  of  only  34  was  of  less  dura- 
tion than  one  year.  In  all  the  rest  it  had  passed  into  the  chronic 
stage  of  comparative  incurability. 

Among  this  unpromising  mass  of  patients,  468  in  all,  33 
recoveries  were  reported, —  6  State  patients,  6  town  patients, 
and  21  private  patients;  but  6  of  these  recoveries  were  from 
delirium  tremens,  or  inebriety.  The  deaths  were  41  ;  and  here 
the  proportions  were  reversed,  24  being  State  cases  and  only 
14  private  patients.  This  excess  of  deaths  over  recoveries 
continued  for  a  few  years;  but  in  1870,  with  a  total  population 
of  604,  there  were  but  33  deaths  against  50  recoveries,  while  2 
were  discharged  as  "not  insane," — perhaps  the  first  patients 
thus  frankly  designated  in  our  hospital  reports.  But,  among 
the  604  of  1870,  only  103  had  never  before  been  in  any 
hospital;  while  at  the  end  of  the  year  (Oct.  i,  1870)  the  three 
classes  of  patients  stood  :  State,  209  ;  town,  73  ;  private,  122, — 
the  first  class  diminishing,  and  the  other  two  considerably  in- 
creasing.* Meantime  an  asylum  for  the  chronic  and  quiet 
insane  had  been  opened  at  Tewksbury,  and  a  part  of  its  in- 
mates had  been  drawn  from  Northampton.  On  this  point  Dr. 
Earle  said  :  — 

The  patients  removed  to  Tewksbury  are  chiefly  the  most  quiet  and 
undemonstrative  in  the  house ;  while  among  those  brought  hither 
from  other  hospitals  an  increasing  proportion  are  excited,  violent, 
and  destructive.  For  these  reasons  the  number  of  the  turbulent  has 
been  gradually  augmented,  until  it  is  now  threefold  what  it  was 
when  I  took  charge,  six  years  ago.  Thus  this  hospital  has  been  and 
still  is  in  a  state  of  transition  from  little  more  than  an  asylum  for 
incurables  to  the  status  of  a  hospital  proper,  receiving  all  its  patients 
directly  from  their  homes. 

*In  consequence  of  changes  in  the  laws  of  pauper  settlement  the  proportion  between  these 
classes  has  now  greatly  changed.  On  the  ist  of  October,  1897,  among  the  522  patients  of  the  enlarged 
Northampton  Hospital,  only  47  were  State  cases,  while  3SS  were  city  and  town  cases,  and  87  private 
patients.     Out  of  182  admissions,  13S  had  never  been  treated  before. 


2  66  RESULTS    AT    NORTHAMPTON 

This  change,  always  greatly  desired  by  him,  Dr.  Earle  lived 
to  see  ;  for  in  October,  1888,  more  than  three  years  before  his 
death,  his  successor,  Dr.  Nims,  reported  that,  of  166  patients 
admitted  in  the  year,  only  one  was  from  outside  the  four 
western  counties,  which  had,  in  fact,  nearly  doubled  their 
population  since  1864. 

At  that  date  (1888)  there  remained  of  the  original  transfers 
from  the  other  hospitals  (including  100  State  patients  who  had 
been  sent  up  from  the  South  Boston  Hospital  in  1858)  about  80 
old  cases,  of  whom  a  few  yet  remain,  ten  years  later.  This 
persistence  of  old  cases,  together  with  the  more  frequent 
admission  of  recent  cases  (always  more  exposed  to  death  than 
the  chronics,  until  the  latter  are  enfeebled  by  age),  has  made 
the  deaths  in  recent  years  outnumber  the  reported  recoveries. 
Thus  in  1868  there  were  43  deaths  among  565  patients  ;  in 
1878,  23  deaths  among  551,  with  26  recoveries;  in  1888,  31 
deaths  among  624  patients,  with  36  recoveries;  in  1885,  the 
year  of  Dr.  Earle's  retirement,  there  were  27  deaths  and  29 
recoveries  among  588  patients  ;  in  1892,  the  year  of  his  death, 
among  627  patients  there  were  31  deaths  and  45  recoveries. 
But  in  1896,  among  745  patients,  there  were  46  deaths  and 
only  36  recoveries  ;  and  in  1897,  among  735  patients,  45  deaths 
and  only  30  recoveries.  A  marked  feature  of  Dr.  Earle's  ad- 
ministration was  the  low  death-rate  among  his  patients,  show- 
ing the  extreme  care  taken  by  him,  and  also  the  excellent  diet 
which  the  large  and  well-cultivated  farm  enabled  him  to  supply 
at  a  comparatively  small  cost.  In  1885,  the  last  year  of  his 
direction,  there  were  364  acres,  or  nearly  double  the  number 
he  found  in  1864;  and  each  cultivated  acre  produced  nearly 
twice  as  much  as  when  he  began  his  practical  management  of 
the  farm,  for  which  his  rural  life  at  Leicester  had  so  well 
qualified  him.  Thus  in  1864  only  40  tons  of  hay  were  cut; 
in  1885,  251.  In  the  former  year,  6,256  pounds  of  pork  were 
raised;  in  1885,  17,544.  The  difference  in  the  crops  of  fruit 
was  still  more  marked,  and  nearly  as  much  so  in  vegetables  for 
the  kitchen. 

Next  to  the  economic  benefit  of  Dr.  Earle's  administration 
may  be  placed  its  statistical  value,  both  to  the  hospital  itself 


1864-1885  267 

and  to  the  State  at  large  and  other  States.  His  long  study  of 
statistics  had  shown  him  how  imperfect  and  useless  was 
much  of  the  information  which  hospital  statistics  professed 
to  give,  and  he  speedily  reformed  the  practice  at  Northamp- 
ton. My  own  studies  had  led  me  in  the  same  direction  ;  and 
when  I  became  Inspector  of  Charities,  in  1879,  I  ^^  or\CQ  con- 
ferred with  him  in  regard  to  the  forms  proper  to  be  used  in  all 
the  Massachusetts  hospitals  and  asylums,  when  reporting  their 
insane  for  the  official  year.  Profiting  by  his  suggestions,  which 
had  been  strikingly  enforced  by  his  then  recent  publications  on 
the  Curability  of  Insanity,  I  prepared  tables,  which,  when  re- 
vised by  him  and  approved  by  Dr.  Allen  and  Dr.  Hitchcock,  of 
the  State  Lunacy  Board,  became  the  official  form  for  tabula- 
tions, and  have,  ever  since  1880,  been  in  use  in  Massachusetts, 
with  triffing  modifications,  which  do  not  improve  them.  Based 
on  the  facts  thus  reported,  the  principal  matters  of  endless 
dispute,  as  to  the  age,  curability,  form  of  disease,  death-rate, 
occupations,  etc.,  of  many  thousands  of  the  insane,  have  been 
partially  settled,  so  far  as  Massachusetts  is  concerned  ;  and 
other  States  and  countries  have  profited  by  this  example  to 
improve  their  own  statistical  reports,  so  that  it  is  no  longer 
possible  to  have  those  absurd  results  so  gravely  and  confi- 
dently stated,  upon  which  Dr.  Earle  commented  sarcastically 
in  his  annual  Northampton  reports,  and  afterwards  in  his  use- 
ful volume,  exposing  the  old  fallacies  respecting  curability. 

Two  positions  taken  by  Dr.  Earle,  while  in  charge  at 
Northampton,  drew  on  him  much  idle  censure  from  his  pro- 
fessional brethren.  The  first  was  his  unsparing  exposure 
year  by  year,  from  1876  onwards,  of  the  traditional  and  decep- 
tive modes  of  reporting  recoveries,  so  as  to  make  it  appear  to 
the  public  that  insanity  in  general  is  a  malady  easily  curable 
(only  true  of  certain  forms  of  the  disease).  This  provoked  for 
years  the  most  offensive  imputations  from  some  of  those  who 
had  been  using,  consciously  or  ignorantly,  the  old  forms  of 
statistical  report  to  propagate  a  mistaken  opinion  which  flattered 
professional  pride.  His  only  object  was  truth,  whether  agree- 
able to  preconceived  opinion  or  not.  Yet  he  was  charged  with 
mean  motives,  and   with   misrepresenting   the   statements    of 


2  68  THE  EXTRAVAGANCE  AT  DANVERS 

those  not  yet  converted  by  his  facts.  The  other  position,  no 
less  creditable  to  his  love  of  truth  and  his  public  spirit,  was 
his  attitude  towards  the  extravagant  scale  of  expenditure  in 
hospital  building  for  the  insane,  which  prevailed  in  several 
States  in  the  decade  from  1870  to  1880,  and  culminated  in 
Massachusetts  in  the  culpable  wastefulness  of  the  builders  of 
the  Danvers  Hospital.  Unjustifiable  use  having  been  made  of 
a  letter  which  had  been  extracted  from  Dr.  Earle's  good  nature, 
to  procure  from  the  legislature  an  appropriation  of  $500,000 
more,  to  finish  the  Danvers  structure,  than  he  had  been  assured 
it  would  cost,  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  give  his  full  opinion  con- 
cerning the  matter  in  his  yearly  report  for  1876.  Estimating 
its  final  cost  at  ;^  1,800,000,  including  interest  before  it  could  be 
occupied,  and  its  capacity  at  500,  he  computed  the  building- 
cost  per  capita  at  $3,600,  both  assumptions  being  within 
bounds  of  the  existing  fact  when  the  hospital  was  opened  in 
1878.     Dr.  Earle  then  said:  — 

Scattered  all  over  Massachusetts  there  are  hundreds,  perhaps 
thousands,  of  farms,  averaging  100  acres  of  land,  with  a  good 
country  dwelling-house  of  two  stories,  and  from  three  to  five  rooms  on 
the  ground  floor,  a  suitable  barn,  and  (often)  other  out-buildings,  and 
wood  sufficient  for  the  perpetual  maintenance  of  two  fires ;  and  any 
one  of  these  farms  may  be  purchased  for  less  than  $3,600.  The 
market  value  of  more  than  500  such  farms  will  be  spent  in  the  con- 
struction of  that  hospital.  For  at  least  one-half  of  its  cost,  nothing 
is  added  to  its  excellence  as  a  curative  institution,  and  no  compen- 
sation is  gained,  at  all  commensurate  with  the  amount  of  money 
disbursed.  Had  the  State  built  the  hospital  with  one  half  of  its 
appropriations  (actual  and  in  prospect),  and  with  the  other  half 
purchased  that  amount  of  its  outstanding  bonds  and  burned  them, 
it  would,  in  my  estimation,  have  done  a  greater  work  of  beneficence 
than  it  will  have  performed  by  the  lavish  expenditure  of  that  half. 
The  burned  bonds  would  no  longer  oppress  the  people  with  demands 
for  either  principal  or  interest,  but  the  establishment  at  Danvers 
entails  a  perpetual  and  unnecessary  burden  to  meet  its  current 
expenses.  It  is  not  a  legitimate  or  truthful  expression  of  the  will  of 
the  people  of  Massachusetts.  Had  it  been  known  in  the  beginning 
that  it  would  cost  even  $1,500,000  (the  sum  already  asked  for),  no 


I864-I8S5  269 

one  will  pretend  that  the  enabling  act  for  its  foundation  could  ever 
have  been  obtained. 

There  was  no  misunderstanding  trenchant  words  like  these. 
They  greatly  angered  the  indolent  commissioners  and  incom- 
petent architects  and  engineers  who  had  wasted  so  much  public 
money,  and  they  caused  much  anguish  of  mind  to  the  plausible 
medical  men  who  had  helped  support  the  pretension  that  such 
costly  buildings  would  promote  recoveries.  These  knew  that 
their  reputation  was  not  equal  to  the  task  of  crying  down  the 
most  eminent  of  their  profession,  one  of  the  thirteen  founders, 
in  1844,  of  the  Association  of  Superintendents,  whose  deliberate 
votes  against  monster  asylums  they  had  helped  to  set  aside ;  but 
they  were  none  the  less  vexed  on  that  account.  The  public  re- 
sponded at  once  to  the  plain  language  of  the  Northampton 
superintendent,  which  was  widely  copied  in  the  press,  and  had 
much  to  do  with  the  searching  legislative  investigation  that 
followed  in  the  winter  and  spring  ensuing.  As  its  result,  the 
commissioners  were  turned  out,  the  new  hospital  was  put  into 
the  hands  of  a  new  board,  who  found  all  Dr.  Earle's  anticipa- 
tions of  their  financial  difficulties  fully  realized,  and  it  was  five 
or  six  years  before  this  crowded  building  could  meet  its  yearly 
outlay  from  its  own  income,  as  the  Northampton  hospital  had 
done,  under  Dr.  Earle's  frugal  management,  for  nearly  twenty 
years. 

The  open  and  secret  hostility  to  Dr.  Earle  for  his  outspoken 
protest  against  extravagance  soon  ceased,  so  evidently  was  the 
judgment  of  the  people  with  him ;  and,  when  in  Chicago  in 
June,  1879,  ^^  set  forth  the  true  theory  and  wise  practice  of 
hospital  building  for  the  insane,  at  the  meeting  of  the  National 
Conference  of  Charities,  he  received  general  applause  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  But  his  sin  against  traditional  opinion 
and  the  long  delusion  of  his  profession  concerning  the  cura- 
bility of  the  insane  was  too  great  to  be  so  soon  forgiven.  His 
tentative  publication  on  this  subject  began  in  his  Northampton 
report  for  1875  (Twentieth  Annual  Report),  and  was  continued 
for  several  years  in  the  same  annual.  In  December,  1876,  he 
summed  up  his  first  results  in  an  address  before  the  New  Eng- 


270  REFORM    IN    LUNACY    STATISTICS 

land  Psychological  Society,  of  which  he  was  president,  and  then 
printed  them  in  a  pamphlet  of  fifty-two  pages  at  Utica,  N.Y. 
They  were  received  by  the  majority  of  his  associates  with 
reluctance  or  positive  aversion,  so  completely  did  they  contra- 
vene the  comfortable  hypothesis  upon  which  sumptuous  hos- 
pital-palaces had  been  erected  and  large  appropriations  of  public 
money  or  private  endowment  obtained.  This  hypothesis  was 
that  insanity  is  easily  and  rapidly  curable,  if  only  taken  at  once 
and  treated  in  a  hospital,  thus  saving  to  the  community  the  vast 
sums  otherwise  requisite  to  maintain  the  uncured  patients  in 
asylums.  It  was  a  pleasing  and  convenient  theory.  It  pro- 
vided many  medical  men  with  palatial  homes  and  exalted 
reputations,  which  some  of  them  deserved  and  most  of  them 
enjoyed;  but,  as  it  proved,  the  facts  were  all  against  it.  This 
Dr.  Earle  and  others  had  known,  and  Dr.  Thurnam,  of  the 
York  Retreat,  had  stated  the  truth  years  before,  but  no  man 
had  demonstrated  it  on  a  large  scale,  extending  research  over 
many  lands  and  many  thousand  cases ;  and  so  the  plausible  and 
comfortable  fallacy  continued  to  hold  sway  during  the  grotesque 
inadequacy  of  the  hospital  statistics,  on  the  revision  of  which 
the  demonstration  must  depend.  Dr.  Earle  had  been  for 
decades  laboring  at  this  revision.  The  farther  he  advanced, 
the  more  clearly  he  saw  what  the  final  inference  must  be;  and 
he  gave  his  colleagues  credit  for  the  same  penetration  and 
singleness  of  purpose  which  he  had.  For  the  time  he  found 
himself  mistaken  and  disappointed.  His  figures  were  unassail- 
able ;  but  their  meaning  was  so  unpleasing  to  professional  pride 
of  opinion,  and  so  fatal  to  the  system  of  error  long  and  carefully 
built  up,  that  it  is  no  wonder  they  were  slowly  accepted,  even 
where  they  were  fully  understood.  For,  in  the  modest  inquiry 
which  the  Northampton  superintendent  undertook  to  make,  he 
soon  came  upon  blunders  that  so  touched  his  sense  of  the  hu- 
morous that  he  could  not  refrain  from  exposing  them  mirthfully, 
thus  adding  a  barb  to  the  dart  he  threw  with  mild  efficiency. 
His  earliest  victim  was  that  gay  and  captious  Briton,  Captain 
Basil  Hall,  who  travelled  in  America  seventy  years  ago,  and 
gave  Wordsworth  and  others  such  a  sad  picture  of  the  Ameri- 
can defects.     Hall  had  visited  the  Hartford  Retreat,  October, 


1864-1885  271 

1827,  and  there  had  found  something  to  praise.     He  said  in  his 
second  volume :  — 

Dr.  Todd,  the  eminent  and  kind  physician  of  the  Retreat,  showed 
us  over  every  part  of  this  noble  establishment, —  a  model,  I  venture 
to  say,  from  which  any  country  might  take  instruction.  During  the 
last  year  there  have  been  admitted  here  23  recent  cases,  of  which  21 
recovered,  equivalent  to  91.3  per  cent.  The  whole  number  of  recent 
cases  during  the  year  was  28,  of  which  25  have  recovered,  equal  to 
89.2  per  cent. 

"  Thus  recognized  and  indorsed,"  said  Dr.  Earle,  "  the  report 
of  the  Hartford  visiting  physicians,  otherwise  comparatively 
unknown,  was  sent  by  the  newspapers  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land ;  and  the  people  received  their  first  im- 
pression that  insanity  is  largely  curable.  By  a  few  strokes  of 
his  magic  pen  Captain  Hall  did  what,  were  it  not  for  him,  would 
have  required  the  labor  of  years."  He  then  quoted  the  curious 
boast  of  Dr.  Gait,  of  the  Williamsburg  Asylum  in  Virginia, 
made  in  1842,  that  he  had  cured  100  per  cent,  of  his  recent 
cases,  leading  this  sanguine  statistician,  reasoning  from  thirteen 
cases,  "  to  believe  there  is  no  insane  institution,  either  in  Europe 
or  America,  in  which  such  success  is  met  with  as  in  our  own." 
Dr.  Earle  slyly  added  :  — 

Dr.  Gait  had  produced  the  maximum  of  percentage  figures,  includ- 
ing deaths.  Nay,  had  he  not  (under  a  recognized  principle)  mathe- 
matically demonstrated  the  curability  of  all  the  insane  ?  What  said 
Dr.  Luther  Bell,  of  the  McLean  Asylum,  in  his  report  for  1840? 
"  Our  records  justify  the  declaration  that  all  cases,  certaijily  recent, — 
that  is,  whose  origin  does  not,  either  directly  or  obscurely,  run  back 
more  than  a  year, —  recover  under  a  fair  trial.  This  is  the  general 
law.  The  occasional  instances  to  the  contrary  are  the  exception." 
The  spring-tide  of  mathematical  curability  had  now  attained  its 
highest  point ;  and  Dr.  Gait  was  upon  the  crest  of  its  topmost  wave, 
with  Dr.  Bell  beside  him  in  opinionative  curability. 

Warnings  against  this  self-deception  of  the  men  whom  the 
public  trusted  were  not  wanting.     Dr.  Ray,  then  at  the  head  of 


272  THE    DELUSION    OF    CURABILITY 

the  Maine  Hospital  at  Augusta,  said  in  1842,  "Nothing  can 
be  made  more  deceptive  than  statistics,  and  I  have  yet  to  learn 
that  those  of  insanity  form  any  exception."  His  successor, 
Dr.  Bates,  in  his  report  for  1850,  exposed  the  juggle  with 
figures  at  which  Dr.  Ray  may  have  hinted  :  — 

I  am  sure  figures  are  sometimes  made  the  instruments  of  decep- 
tion. Suppose,  at  the  end  of  each  year,  instead  of  reporting  all 
cases  as  recent  which  were  admitted  within  one  year  of  the  attack,  I 
should,  for  the  purpose  of  appearing  to  cure  90  per  cent,  of  recent 
cases  discharged,  report  only  such  as  recent  as  had  not  become  old 
by  remaining  with  us.  I  might  impose  the  belief  on  the  uninitiated 
that  90  per  cent,  of  recent  cases  could  be  cured.  Yet  every  man 
acquainted  with  the  subject  knows  that  no  instance  can  be  shown 
in  which  90  out  of  100  cases,  admitted  in  succession,  ?io  matter  how 
recent,  were  ever  cured. 

And  Dr.  Earle's  English  friend,  Samuel  Tuke,  of  York,  had 
in  1 841,  when  introducing  the  German  Jacobi,  of  Siegburg,  to 
the  English  reader,  said  this  :  — 

The  mode  of  reporting  the  results  of  our  institutions  for  the  insa«e 
calls  loudly  for  attention,  if  we  would  arrive  at  any  useful  statistical 
comparisons  as  to  the  effect  of  treatment  and  other  circumstances  .  .  . 
in  regard  to  the  cure  of  this  greatest  of  human  maladies.* 

Notwithstanding  these  warnings,  Dr.  Earle  himself,  naturally 
hopeful,  and  yielding  to  the  common  drift  of  opinion  in  his 
youth,  had  said  in  his  first  Bloomingdale  report  (for  1844)  :  — 

Of  cases  in  which  there  is  no  eccentricity  or  constitutional  weak- 
ness of  intellect,  and  when  the  proper  remedial  measures  are  adopted 
in  the  early  stages  of  the  disorder,  no  less  than  80  in  every  100  are 
cured.  There  are  but  few  diseases  from  which  so  large  a  percentage 
of  the  persons  attacked  are  restored. 

•This  passage,  and  many  of  the  citations  before,  are  from  Dr.  Earle's  "  Curability  of  Insanity," 
a  complete  demonstration  of  the  falsity  of  statistical  representations  of  its  easy  curability,  and  of  the 
proper  method  of  reporting  recoveries.  It  should  be  in  every  hospital  library  and  every  collection  of 
works  concerning  the  insane,  not  only  for  its  statistical  information  (nowhere  else  in  English  so  ex- 
tensive), but  for  its  calm  and  scientific  spirit. 


1864-1885  273 

Cautious  as  these  exceptions  were,  the  percentage  was  far 
too  high ;  and  Dr.  Earle  apologized  for  his  error  in  his  masterly 
volume,*  saying  :  — 

Thirty-two  years  ago  Dr.  Earle  was  younger  than  now,  and  had  not 
the  benefit  of  so  extensive  an  experience.  His  practical  knowledge 
of  the  treatment  of  insanity  in  1844-45  had  been  derived  from  a 
number  of  cases  considerably  less  than  were  under  his  care  at 
one  time  in  1876  (494).  He  has  had  time  and  opportunity  and 
reason  to  modify  many  of  his  opinions ;  and  among  those  modified 
is  that  of  the  curability  of  insanity.  Doubtless  there  are  others  of 
the  writers  he  has  quoted  who  would  now  seek  protection,  and  who 
deserve  it,  under  a  similar  plea. 

It  seems  that  Dr.  Bell,  one  of  the  most  able  and  outspoken 
of  the  deluded  and  deluding  alienists  of  the  decade  from  1840 
to  1850,  did  reach  a  conclusion  more  extreme  in  regard  to 
incurability  than  Dr.  Earle,  who  quotes  him  as  saying  in  1857, 
"  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  when  once  a  man  becomes 
insane,  he  is  about  used  up  for  this  world."  And  even  Dr. 
Ray,  who  attacked  Dr.  Earle's  conclusions  in  rather  too  parti- 
san a  spirit,  as  late  as  1879,  took  occasion  to  say  then  :  — 

It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  terms  "recovered,"  "im- 
proved," "  much  improved,"  have  been  of  any  use  not  more  than 
balanced  by  their  inevitable  tendency  to  mislead  the  reader  respect- 
ing the  curability  of  insanity.  The  public,  as  often  happens,  thought 
that  the  information  sought  for  was  to  be  found  in  a  parade  of  vague, 
general  expressions. 

The  peculiar  merit  of  Dr.  Earle's  whole  career  at  Northamp- 
ton was  to  destroy  the  value  and  check  the  parade  of  "  vague, 
general  expressions  "  and  impressions. 

In  the  year  1870  Dr.  Earle  was  subjected  to  one  of  those 
persecutions  by  a  discharged  patient,  possessed  of  money  and 
local  influence,  which  so  often  fall  to  the  lot  of  those  who  care 
for  diseased  minds.     It  was  alleged  that  he  was  detaining  at 

*  This  was  written  in  1876,  while  the  volume  only  came  out  in  1886. 


274  DR.  earle's  hospital  discipline 

Northampton  patients  who  were  not  insane,  that  his  treatment 
was  sometimes  abusive  and  sometimes  neglectful,  and  that  he 
had  not  complied  with  certain  exacting  and  quite  needless  re- 
quirements of  law  in  regard  to  notifying  distant  relatives  of  his 
patients.  The  last  charge  appeared  to  be  true.  I  believe  the 
law  has  since  been  practically  abrogated.  The  other  charges 
were  wholly  disproved  ;  and  a  former  patient  of  education  and 
character,  who  had  been  relied  on  to  give  testimony  unfavorable 
to  the  physicians,  came  forward,  and  said :  — 

I  consider  them  competent  men,  and  that  the  care  and  treatment 
bestowed  by  them  could  not  be  improved.  If  at  any  time  I  had  a 
different  opinion,  it  was  owing  to  a  diseased  mental  condition.  I  am 
of  the  opinion  now  that  Dr.  Earle  conducts  the  affairs  of  the  hospital 
with  humanity,  competence,  and  kindness. 

Such  was  the  conclusion  of  all  the  official  persons  called  on 
to  investigate  the  complaints,  myself  among  them.  And  one 
of  the  chief  qualifications  of  a  superintendent  for  such  a  difficult 
position  was  as  marked  in  Dr.  Earle  as  in  any  of  the  hundred 
superintendents  and  directors  of  hospitals  and  asylums  whom  I 
have  personally  known,  in  an  experience  now  covering  thirty- 
five  years, —  his  strictness  of  discipline,  both  for  patients  and 
attendants.  This,  which  sometimes  passed  for  unkindness,  and 
was  really  exacting  now  and  then,  was  the  truest  kindness 
when  the  real  interest  of  all  persons  was  considered.  The 
inflexible  justice  of  a  most  kindly  nature  thus  displayed  itself, 
often  at  the  cost  of  much  pain  to  the  doctor  himself.  •  In  the 
case  above  mentioned  it  gave  him  so  much  concern,  though 
conscious  of  doing  his  duty,  that  it  seriously  affected  his  health, 
and  led  to  a  third  visit  to  Europe,  which  he  made  in  the  year 
1871. 

Though  rapid,  this  journey  was  more  extensive  than  either 
of  his  former  ones,  so  far  as  the  inspection  of  insane  asy- 
lums was  involved.  He  revisited  several  that  he  had  seen 
in  1837-38  and  in  1849,  ^"<^  ^^  gave  attention  to  the  many 
new  ones  that  had  sprung  up  everywhere.  He  received,  as  he 
deserved,  the  most  distinguished  welcome  in  all  the  countries 


1864-1885  275 

visited  ;  and  he  noted  with  keen  eye  the  many  changes  that  had 
occurred  since  he  was  in  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  and 
Austria  twenty-two  years  before.  He  could  not  quite  accept 
the  peculiar  institution  of  Gheel  in  Belgium,  as  adapted  to 
America  or  even  Scotland ;  and  his  caution  made  him  distrust- 
ful of  the  Scotch  system  of  Family  Care  (a  considerable  im- 
provement on  Gheel,  because  under  more  exact  control  and 
classification  by  the  government  of  the  whole  country),  though 
it  has  since  amply  justified  itself  and  been  copied  in  other 
countries.  The  remarkably  well-built  and  well-managed  colony- 
asylum  of  Alt-Scherbitz  was  not  founded  until  five  years  later, 
and  was  never  seen  by  Dr.  Earle.  Had  it  been,  it  would  have 
overcome,  by  its  great  practical  success,  some  of  his  objections 
to  a  combination  of  hospital  and  asylum  in  detached  buildings. 
There  are  nearly  forty  such  buildings  at  this  Saxon  Anstalt. 
But  he  admired  the  newer  Scotch  asylums,  with  their  combina- 
tion of  buildings  for  the  recent  and  the  chronic  cases.  He  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Sir  James  Coxe,  Dr.  (now  Sir  Arthur) 
Mitchell,  and  Dr.  Clouston,  not  yet  at  the  head  of  the  Edin- 
burgh Asylum  ;  praised  the  Scotch  Lunacy  Commission,  which 
his  American  friend,  Miss  Dix,  had  some  hand  in  creating  in 
1857,  disliked  the  monster  asylums  of  London  and  Paris,  found 
the  condition  of  the  Vienna  and  the  Munich  insane  greatly  ad- 
vanced since  1849,  and  was  particularly  pleased  with  the  public 
spirit  of  Zurich  in  providing  asylum  room  for  1,000  insane,  when 
the  population  of  the  whole  canton  was  less  than  300,000,  He 
saw  what  was  then  the  new  hospital  of  Burgholzli,  over  which 
Dr.  Auguste  Forel  so  long  presided,  and  won  such  a  reputation 
throughout  Europe,  and  thought  the  size  of  this  Zurich  estab- 
lishment (250  patients)  a  model  for  Massachusetts.  In  his 
report  for  1872  Dr.  Earle  briefly  sketched  his  plan  for  the 
Massachusetts  insane,  then  estimated  at  about  3,000  in 
number  :  — 

Were  a  system  for  the  care  and  custody  of  our  insane  now  to  be 
devised,  I  would  recommend  a  series  of  small  hospitals,  designed  for 
not  more  than  250  patients  each,  and  so  situated  in  the  several  coun- 
ties or  quarters  of  Massachusetts  that  some  one  of  them  should  be 


276  SYSTEM    OF    CARE 

easily  accessible  to  every  citizen.  Whether  they  should  be  founded, 
owned,  and  conducted  by  the  State,  or  by  the  counties  or  districts 
respectively,  is  perhaps  a  matter  of  but  little  importance. 


This  passage  shows  that  he  adhered  to  his  early  opinion  in 
favor  of  small  establishments  (like  those  at  Cupar  in  Scotland 
and  Zurich,  which  he  specially  mentioned),  and  foreshows,  in  a 
modified  form,  the  Wisconsin  system  of  county  asylums,  which 
was  instituted  by  Mr.  Andrew  Elmore  and  Mr.  Henry  Giles  in 
1881.  It  was  soon  after  his  return  from  Europe  in  187 1  that 
Dr.  Earle  arranged  for  building  a  small  hospital  for  recent 
cases  (not  more  than  fifty)  on  land  which  he  had  bought  for 
the  State  across  the  street  from  the  main  hospital, —  a  plan 
which,  unfortunately,  he  found  himself  too  old  to  carry  out  in 
face  of  the  difficulties  created  by  professional  opinion  and  the 
extravagant  outlay  at  Worcester  and  Danvers.  But  it  has 
been  practically  adopted  by  the  trustees  of  the  Westboro 
Insane  Hospital,  and  such  a  building  is  now  going  up  there. 

It  was  characteristic  of  the  open  mind  and  capacity  for  new 
impressions  which  Dr.  Earle's  insatiable  love  of  travel  indicated 
that  he  should  continually  advance  in  his  opinions  concerning 
the  care  of  the  insane,  as  the  increase  and  the  changed  condi- 
tions of  that  class  required  changes  in  their  care.  Thus,  in 
1879,  at  his  first  appearance  before  the  National  Conference  of 
Charities  in  Chicago,  with  his  elaborate  report  for  the  committee 
of  which  he  was  chairman  on  "  Management  of  the  Insane,"  he 
was  found  to  have  modified  in  detail  (while  adhering  in  prin- 
ciple) the  extent  and  nature  of  that  State  management  which 
he  had  always  held  desirable  and  obligatory.  The  aim,  as  he 
stated  it,  was  "a  general  scheme,  by  the  kindly  operation  of 
which  every  insane  person  requiring  curative  treatment,  paren- 
tal care,  or  custodial  restraint,  shall  be  suitably  provided  for,  in 
such  places  and  manner  as  will  be  effective,  without  transcend- 
ing the  true  pecuniary  ability  of  the  people."  How  then  reach 
that  aim  ?  Not  by  palace  hospitals  :  on  that  topic  he  was  plain 
and  convincing :  — 


1864-1885  277 

The  argument  used  to  be,  "  The  better  the  hospital,  the  greater  will 
be  the  number  cured  "  ;  and  the  word  "  better  "  was  in  some  places 
interpreted  "  more  costly."  Under  this  rendering  the  ambition  of 
architects,  the  pride  of  commissioners  and  superintendents,  and  the 
universal  extravagance  of  the  people  during  the  years  next  following 
the  Civil  War  strongly  fortified  the  argument ;  and  the  consequences 
are  now  apparent  in  hospitals  which  have  cost  from  ^2,500  to  $4,000, 
perhaps  $5,000,  for  every  patient  to  whom  they  can  offer  a  comfort- 
able domicile.  Hence  during  the  last  few  years  it  has  cost  Massa- 
chusetts $1,000  a  day,  Sabbaths  included,  to  supply  the  shelter  of  a 
hospital  (to  say  nothing  of  support)  for  the  mere  current  increase  in 
the  numbers  of  its  insane.  .  .  .  No  nation  or  State  has  ever  been  able 
to  afford  such  expenditure  from  the  public  treasury.  The  wealthy 
may  and  can  bear  it,  but  its  burden  weighs  grievously  upon  tens  of 
thousands  in  the  humbler  spheres  of  society.  The  life's  blood  of 
many  is  drawn,  under  the  forms  of  law,  in  providing  an  ostentatious 
charity  for  a  few. 


What,  then,  viras  to  be  done  in  the  face  of  this  increasing 
multitude,  who  must  somehow  be  provided  for,  since  the  in- 
adequacy of  hospitals  is  shown  by  decreased  recoveries  and 
overcrowding  everywhere }  First,  maintain  curative  hospitals 
and  small  ones,  never  exceeding  three  hundred  in  the  number 
of  patients.  Next,  vary  the  monotonous  forms  of  architecture, 
as  is  done  in  England  and  Germany.  Then  provide  separate 
asylums  for  the  incurable,  grouped  around  or  near  the  hospitals. 
Finally,  place  some  of  the  harmless  insane  in  families,  though 
that  is  to  be  done  cautiously. 

It  is  in  the  directions  thus  pointed  out,  nearly  twenty  years 
ago,  that  enlightened  opinion  has  since  been  moving;  and,  when 
Dr.  Earle  saw  the  continued  success  of  the  Family  Care  system 
of  Scotland  and  Belgium,  his  doubts  gave  way,  and  he  heartily 
approved,  in  1885  and  the  following  years,  my  introduction  of 
the  Scotch  system  into  Massachusetts,  even  selecting  himself 
a  few  of  the  old  cases  which  were  to  be  boarded  out  from 
the  Northampton  Hospital.  In  January,  1890,  at  the  age  of 
eighty,  he  joined  with  Dr.  Talbot,  of  Boston,  Mr.  Allen, 
of    Medfield,  Mr,  Barrus  (now  a  trustee  of   the  Northampton 


278  FORESIGHT    OF    DR.    EARLE 

Hospital),  and  others, —  a  committee  of  the  National  Confer- 
ence of  Charities, —  in  this  recommendation  to  the  Massachu- 
setts legislature :  — 

That  there  should  be  in  Massachusetts  a  qualified  Lunacy  Com- 
mission, which,  with  other  official  boards,  should  provide  for  the 
chronic  insane  in  asylums  and  families.  Particularly  should  permis- 
sive power  be  given  to  the  hospitals  and  asylums  to  board  out  their 
patients,  and  to  take  them  back  when  necessary,  without  waiting  for 
the  action  of  a  central  board.  This  is  a  power  natural  and  necessary 
to  such  establishments,  if  they  are  to  give  their  patients  the  best  and 
most  varied  opportunities  for  improvement.  It  frequently  happens 
that  the  convalesence  of  poor  persons  would  be  promoted  by  their 
removal  from  the  hospitals  into  private  families.  For  convalescing 
patients,  whether  rich  or  poor,  the  boarding-out  system  furnishes 
advantages  of  which  most  of  the  hospital  superintendents  have 
expressed  a  desire  to  partake.* 

It  will  be  noticed  that  these  suggestions  are  in  line  vi^ith 
those  made  by  the  Massachusetts  Commission  of  1896,  and  of 
Dr.  Dewey,  Dr.  Stedman,  and  others,  who  in  1897  recom- 
mended "after-care  of  the  insane";  but  they  were  made  six 
years  before  the  drift  of  professional  opinion  settled  in  that 
way.  This  is  a  good  example  of  the  advanced  position  usually 
held  by  Dr.  Earle  in  all  questions  affecting  the  insane,  and  of 
the  practical  view  which  he  took  of  matters  too  often  discussed 
theoretically. 

In  the  late  years  of  Dr.  Earle's  superintendency  at  Northamp- 
ton, opinion  had  come  round  most  gratifyingly  to  his  position 
on  the  main  questions.  He  had  become  the  Nestor  of  Ameri- 
can alienists,  and  was  so  recognized  in  places  where  he  had 
been  sometimes  viewed  with  aversion  as  "  one  that  troubleth 
Israel."  But  his  physical  powers  yielded  to  the  advance  of  age. 
A  tendency  to  pulmonary  disease  also  manifested  itself,  and 
kept  him  housed  much  of  the  long,  harsh  winters  of  Northamp- 

•See  the  Boston  Evc7iing  Transcript  of  Jan.  24,  1890.  The  date  of  the  committee's  report, 
however,  was  January  4.  It  was  presented  to  the  legislative  Committee  on  Charitable  Institutions 
about  the  23d.  A  lunacy  commission,  called  the  "  State  Board  of  Insanity,"  has  been  established 
this  year  (1898)  in  place  of  the  unsatisfactory  board  existing  in  1890. 


1S64-1SS5  279 

ton.  He  therefore,  with  his  usual  prudence  and  unselfishness, 
withdrew  from  his  position  of  command,  gave  in  his  resignation 
seven  years  before  his  death  (in  1885),  and  was  relieved  of  the 
cares  of  office.  At  the  invitation  of  the  State  he  continued  to 
reside  in  the  hospital,  busy  with  his  correspondence,  his  Earle 
Genealogy,  and  his  manuscripts,  and  died  there  May  17,  1892, 
in  his  eighty-third  year.  He  had  already  provided  his  burial- 
place  and  monument  in  the  rural  cemetery  of  that  lovely  city,* 
to  which  he  left  a  large  public  bequest  and  the  memory  and 
example  of  a  good  public  servant. 

At  Dr.  Earle's  resignation  the  Northampton  Hospital  passed 
into  the  charge  of  Dr.  Edward  Nims,  who  had  long  been  the 
first  assistant  physician,  and  who  understood  and  carried  out 
Dr.  Earle's  methods. f  Mention  should  also  be  made  of  the  long 
and  active  service  of  Miss  Fanny  Earle,  as  clerk, —  the  daughter 
of  Dr.  Earle's  eldest  brother, —  who  for  many  years  relieved 
her  uncle  of  much  of  the  labor,  both  of  public  and  private  cor- 
respondence, and  materially  aided  him  in  the  preparation  of  the 
Genealogy. 

*  Northampton  had  been  celebrated,  long  before  Dr.  Earle  became  its  most  distinguished  citizen, 
for  the  beauty  of  its  scenery  and  the  fame  of  its  residents.  Jonathan  Edwards  preached  there,  and 
wrote  some  of  his  works  in  Northampton.  George  Bancroft  was  a  teacher  in  Dr.  Cogswell's  Round 
Hill  School,  where  Motley  was  fitted  for  college ;  and  it  was  in  Northampton  that  Bancroft  began  his 
History  of  the  United  States.  It  was  the  lifelong  home  of  John  Clarke,  who  there  founded 
the  Clarke  School  for  the  Deaf  (which  made  oral  instruction  popular  in  America)  in  1867,  a  few  years 
after  Dr.  Earle  went  there  to  reside. 

t  The  vote  of  the  trustees  of  the  Northampton  Hospital,  upon  his  resignation,  was  as  follows:  — 

Resolved,  That,  in  accepting  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Pliny  Earle,  superintendent  of  this  hospital, 
the  trustees  have  reluctantly  yielded  to  the  con\dction  that  his  advancing  years  and  impaired  health 
demand  rest  and  relief  from  the  responsibilities  and  labor  of  his  position. 

Dr.  Earle  has  been  at  the  head  of  this  institution  twenty-one  years,  and  during  nearly  all  that 
period  has  also  been  its  treasurer.  In  its  management  he  has  combined  the  highest  professional  skill 
and  acquirement  with  rare  executive  ability.  By  his  thorough  knowledge,  his  long  experience,  his 
patient  attention  to  details,  by  his  wisdom  and  firmness,  his  absolute  fidelity  to  duty,  and  devotion  to 
the  interests  of  the  hospital,  he  has  rendered  invaluable  services  to  the  institution  and  to  the  com- 
munity which  it  serves.  The  trustees  are  deeply  sensible  of  the  assistance  which  he  has  given  them 
in  the' discharge  of  their  duties,  and  follow  him,'in  his  retirement,  with  the  assurance  of  their  highest 
respect  and  esteem. 

Resolved,  That  the  trustees  indulge  the  hope  that  Dr.  Earle  will  continue  to  make  his  home  in 
this  institution,  that  they  may  continue  to  profit  by  his  counsels ;  and  they  will  provide  that  his  rooms 
shall  always  be  open  and  ready  for  his  use. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  entered  upon  the  records  of  the  board,  and  that  a  copy 
thereof,  attested  by  the  chairman  and  secretary,  be  transmitted  to  Dr.  Earle. 

Henry  W.  Taft,  Chairvian. 

(July,  1885.)  Lyman   D.  James,  Secretary. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

LESSONS    AND    INCIDENTS    OF    A    LONG    LIFE. 

These  pages  have  exhibited  Dr.  Earle  in  the  whole  extent  of 
a  life  protracted  beyond  the  ordinary  limit,  and  occupied  for 
fourscore  years  with  an  unresting  and  fruitful  activity.  His 
brief  infancy,  soon  passing  into  the  eager  pursuit  and  acquire- 
ment of  varied  knowledge,  which  he  instantly  applied  to  some 
purpose  deemed  needful,  and  the  few  years  that  followed  his 
retirement  from  the  actual  control  of  a  large  establishment  for 
the  treatment,  shelter,  and  observation  of  mental  disease, — 
these  were  the  only  parts  of  Dr.  Earle's  life  when  he  was  not 
actively  engaged  in  important  pursuits,  useful  to  himself,  his 
kindred  and  friends,  or  to  mankind  at  large.  The  story  has 
been  told  as  much  as  possible  in  his  own  words.  Here  it  is  to 
be  summed  up  from  his  account,  and  from  the  observation  of 
those  who  knew  him  in  his  various  periods  of  life  and  spheres 
of  action.  Of  such  the  witnesses  of  his  earlier  years  are  now 
few.  He  outlived  all  his  nearest  kindred  and  most  of  his  early 
friends  and  acquaintances,  and  even  the  pupils  of  his  half- 
dozen  years  of  class  instruction  are  now  few  and  fast  passing 
away.  He  was  the  last  survivor,  I  think,  of  the  old  and  now 
extensive  organization  which,  in  its  first  form,  was  the  Ameri- 
can Association  of  Medical  Superintendents  of  Institutions  for 
the  Insane,  and  which  now  has  another  name.  Of  its  original 
thirteen  members,  who  founded  or  early  contributed  to  the 
American  Journal  of  Insanity,  Dr.  Earle,  if  I  am  not  mistaken, 
died  last.  He  held  its  presidency  in  his  last  year  of  control  at 
Northampton,  and  resigned  it  when  he  gave  up  the  superin- 
tendency.  And  in  the  years  since  his  death  many  of  his 
colleagues,  younger  than  himself,  in  this  and  other  countries, 
have  passed  away, —  Drs.  Bucknill,  Hack  Tuke,  Lockhart  Rob- 
ertson, Heinrich  Laehr,  J.  P.  Gray,  Bancroft,  Andrews,  and 
others ;  so  that  comparatively  few  are  now  left  who  saw  his 


1837-1892  28l 

professional  work  in  the  hospital  with  the  trained  vision  of 
practical  experience.  I  have  supposed  that  he  selected  me  as 
his  biographer  and  editor  partly  because  circumstances  made 
me  officially  cognizant  of  that  work  at  Northampton,  without 
previous  bias  for  or  against  him  from  professional  brotherhood 
or  jealousy, —  as  Tacitus  says,  sine  ira  et  studio,  quonifn  causas 
procul  habeo.  It  was  by  that  work  and  by  his  demonstration 
of  the  true  theory  of  Curability  —  which  his  success  at  North- 
ampton allowed  him  the  opportunity  to  develop  and  publish  — 
that  he  desired  to  be  judged  in  the  field  of  science  and  prac- 
tice to  which  he  consecrated  fifty  years  of  his  life. 

Consecration  is  the  right  word  to  describe  his  care  for  the 
insane.  With  all  his  worldly  prudence  and  common  sense,  and 
notwithstanding  his  broad  toleration  of  theological  differences, 
he  was  from  the  first,  and  essentially,  a  religious  man,  gov- 
erned in  all  the  important  actions  of  life  by  a  sense  of  relig- 
ious duty  and  that  regard  for  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man,  which  the  small  sect  of  his  family  and  fore- 
fathers especially  cherishes.  Of  the  narrowness  of  the  Quaker 
Church  he  had  nothing :  of  its  profound  instinct  of  divine 
guidance  and  the  worth  of  the  human  soul  he  had  much.  In 
the  growing  strength  of  materialism  among  scientific  men  and 
physicians,  he  still  maintained  the  spiritual  and  im,mortal 
nature  of  our  minds,  and  could  have  said  with  Shakespeare,  "  I 
think  more  nobly  of  the  soul,  and  no  way  approve  their 
opinion."  In  one  of  his  lectures  to  physicians  in  middle  life, 
he  thus  stated  his  view;  — 

Were  the  arguments  for  the  hj'pothesis  that  in  insanity  the  mind 
itself  is  diseased  tenfold  more  numerous  than  they  are,  and  more 
weighty,  I  could  not  accept  them.  My  ideas  of  the  human  mind  are 
such  that  I  cannot  hold  for  a  moment  that  it  can  be  diseased,  as  we 
understand  disease.  That  implies  death  as  its  final  consequence, 
but  Mind  is  eternal.  In  its  very  essence  and  structure  (to  use  the 
terms  we  apply  to  matter),  in  its  elemental  composition  and  its 
organization,  it  was  created  for  immortality.  Consequently,  it  is 
superior  to  the  bodily  structure,  and  beyond  the  scope  of  the  wear 
and  tear  and  disorganization  and  final  destruction  of  the  mortal  part 
of  our  being. 


282  RELIGIOUS    CHARACTERISTICS 

It  required  some  courage  and  firm  religious  conviction  to 
adhere  to  this  noble  opinion  during  the  latter  half  of  the  pass- 
ing century  ;  but  Dr.  Earle  continued  to  maintain  it,  and  it 
gave  a  dignity  to  his  special  occupations  which  nothing  else 
could  so  well  provide.  It  was  in  this  spirit  that  he  took  them 
up  as  a  medical  student  in  Philadelphia,  and  thus  he  fulfilled 
his  whole  duty  in  them  through  life. 

From  his  brethren  and  sisters  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
exhortations  were  not  lacking  to  a  more  active  proselyting 
effort  among  his  patients,  not  in  the  narrow  sense  of  making 
them  Quakers,  but  to  bring  them  into  the  general  Christian 
fold.  Thus  his  English  friend,  Anne  Knight,  who  was  asso- 
ciated with  Mrs.  Fry  in  her  labors  at  Paris  in  1838,  and  whom 
Dr.  Earle  found  there  on  his  return  from  Italy  and  Greece  in 
April,  1839,  had  this  advice  to  give  him,  when  about  to  sail  for 
America  (April  28)  :  — 

Dear  Fliny  Earle, —  Excuse  my  dismissing  the  formality  of  doctor 
and  addressing  thee,  in  the  freedom  of  Christian  sisterhood,  a  few 
words  which  I  can  hardly  withhold  on  this  prospect  of  thy  departure 
(forever,  perhaps)  from  us.  To-day  I  ventured,  in  wishing  thee 
every  blessifig,  to  hope  thou  wouldst  "  minister  to  a  mind  diseased  " 
as  well  as  to  its  afflicted  earthen  vessel.  It  has  remained  with  me, 
augmenting  into  earnest  desire,  that  the  stability  of  thy  mind,  en- 
larged by  this  European  experience,  with  increased  ability  to  help 
thy  diseased  fellow-creatures,  may  be  ever  engaged  in  directing  their 
hearts  to  that  only  and  best  fountain  of  healing,  which  can  raise  them 
up  to  life  eternal.  Oh,  never  lose  sight  of  thy  power,  in  the  efidear- 
ing  function  of  alleviating  the  pains  of  others,  to  hold  up  to  their 
view  that  Saviour  by  whose  stripes  we  are  healed !  .  .  .  Opportunities 
for  spiritual  help  are  far  more  in  the  power  of  a  medical  than  a 
Pastoral  man.  Thou  art  admitted  where  a  preacher  ordained  is  re- 
jected,—  at  the  couch  of  the  dying  infidel,  in  the  last  scene  of  the 
daughter  of  wickedness.  How  may  such  be  allured  to  the  Saviour 
by  gentle  and  gradual  means,  without  saying  a  word  of  death  !  How 
often  does  vitality  spring  up  to  utilize  our  honest  endeavors  with  our 
fellow  earth-worms  !  ...  In  fear  of  having  been  too  free,  and  feeling 
my  own  unworthiness  and  presumption  in  so  doing,  I  remain,  with 
every  good  earthly  and  heavenly  wish,  thy  sincere  friend. 


I825-I84I  283 

Two  years  later  an  American  lady,  who  had  been  a  pupil 
both  of  Dr.  Earle  and  his  sister,  gave  him  the  same  religious 
warning,  introduced  with  praise  for  his  youthful  prosperity  in 
his  chosen  work  (April,  1841)  :  — 

My  best  wishes  for  success  and  eminence  in  all  thy  undertakings. 
I  often  hear  thee  spoken  of  in  the  most  respectful  terms,  and  I  read 
comments  upon  what  thou  offers  to  the  public ;  and  all  is  of  a  flatter- 
ing nature.  Now  forgive  me,  dear  Pliny,  if  I  say,  "  Remember  from 
whom  all  good  comes."  Thou  must  know  that  I  feel  myself  much 
indebted  to  thy  family,  and  a  lively  interest  in  every  member  of  it. 
Should  thou  come  to  Massachusetts  [from  Philadelphia]  it  would 
afford  me  much  joy  to  receive  thee  here  [At  Sandwich,  where  the 
oldest  American  Quaker  meeting  is]. 

The  early  promise  implied  in  these  affectionate  suggestions 
was  fully  kept,  but  hardly  in  the  manner  then  hoped  by  Pliny 
Earle  and  his  friends, —  a  pronounced  literary  career,  combined 
with  his  philanthropic  efforts.  For  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  he 
was  not  gifted  (along  with  his  higher  qualities)  with  a  genius  for 
expression,  nor  had  acquired  by  training  a  better  style ;  since  it 
must  be  confessed  that  he  seldom  charms  or  even  convinces  by 
his  man7ier  of  writing.  He  lacked  imagination ;  and  his  very 
fancy,  though  quick  to  see  the  common  and  even  the  grotesque 
features  of  nature  and  life,  seldom  imparted  actual  liveliness  to 
his  style.  He  was  educated  at  a  period  when  the  standard  of 
rhetoric  in  New  England  was  very  low,  and  when  the  common 
style  of  those  who  passed  for  good  writers,  unless  they  had  a 
touch  of  genius,  like  Channing,  Emerson,  and  Hawthorne,  was 
diffuse  and  languid,  given  to  long  periods  and  roundabout  forms 
of  expression.  The  genius  of  Dr.  Earle  was  for  observation 
and  faithful  study,  not  for  expression.  Therefore,  in  the  tens  of 
thousands  of  pages  which  he  wrote  and  published,  while  he  con- 
veyed impressive  and  indispensable  fact,  he  did  not  charm  by 
his  presentation  of  the  subject.  Like  his  father,  as  he  depicts 
him  in  my  early  pages,  Pliny  Earle  the  younger  was  mathe- 
matical. His  mind  found  its  shortest  road  and  its  best  vehicle 
in  numerical  statement.     Consequently,  he  has  put  the  statis- 


284  CHARACTERISTICS    OF    DR.    EARLE 

tics  of  his  subject,  whatever  it  might  be,  on  the  soundest  and 
clearest  basis ;  and  the  inferences  which  he  drew  from  the 
figures  he  marshalled  were  not  the  startling  fallacies  of  the 
amateur  in  statistics,  but  the  reasonable  conclusions  which, 
sooner  or  later,  the  world  must  and  would  accept. 

Upon  this  mathematical  foundation  rested  his  great  economic 
success  in  the  management  of  his  hospital.  He  knew  exactly 
the  weight  and  measure  and  number  of  each  thing  needed,  the 
value  of  every  dollar  to  be  expended,  and  the  times  and  seasons 
in  which  that  value  would  be  greatest.  Before  his  time  there 
had  been  no  remarkable  economic  management  of  the  insane 
in  Massachusetts,  and  hardly  in  the  country  anywhere.  Pro- 
fusion and  stinginess  by  turns  marked  the  outlay  for  them ;  and 
the  worth  of  their  manual  labor,  both  sanatory  and  pecuniary, 
was  ill  understood.  Dr.  Earle  saw  what  his  patients  could  do, 
computed  in  his  calculating  head  how  much  that  meant  in 
money  saved,  how  much  in  nerves  quieted,  muscles  strength- 
ened, power  ot  will  developed,  discipline  gradually  infused  into 
wayward  natures  ;  and  so,  out  of  a  most  unpromising  collection 
of  patients,  the  refuse  and  debris  of  treatment  in  other  hospitals 
or  neglect  in  unsuitable  places,  he  produced  a  band  of  odd- 
looking  but  cheerful  and  productive  workers.  His  process  was 
viewed  by  other  superintendents  at  first  with  amused  scepticism, 
then  with  aroused  interest,  then  with  some  jealousy  ;  but,  finally, 
they  gave  to  his  methods  of  employment  the  sincere  compliment 
of  imitation. 

It  was  this  same  arithmetical  turn  of  mind  which  made  him 
so  impatient  of  the  glaring,  useless  extravagance  in  asylum 
building,  and  gave  to  his  censure  of  it  the  convincing  pungency 
which  those  on  whom  it  fell  found  hard  to  endure,  though  use- 
less to  resent.  Somebody  has  defined  the  highest  happiness  of 
the  New  Englander  as  consisting  in  the  power  to  do  good  and 
at  the  same  time  make  money  by  it.  The  contrary  of  this, — 
to  do  harm  to  his  friends,  the  poor  insane,  and  to  throw  away 
millions  of  money  in  doing  it, —  when  seen  going  on  all  about 
him,  moved  Dr.  Earle  to  unwonted  severity  of  comment.  His 
nature  was  kindly  beyond  that  of  most  men,  or  even  women. 
He  abhorred  cruelty  or  harshness  in  any  form,  and  would  rather 


I835-I849  285 

praise  or  keep  silent  than  inflict  pain  by  censure.  But  this 
wave  of  profusion  in  the  care  of  the  insane  which  he  saw  over- 
running the  country  drew  from  him  the  severest  rebuke  he 
ever  uttered,  except  when  he  saw  the  helpless  insane  abused  or 
sadly  neglected. 

Dr.  Earle's  kindness  was  the  natural  expression  of  a  warm 
sympathy  with  human  nature  in  its  manifestations,  great  and 
small,  provided  they  were  not  cruel  or  vicious.  That  delightful 
expression  of  Terence's  — "  I  am  a  man :  nothing  that  con- 
cerns man  lacks  interest  for  me" — was  more  descriptive  of 
this  Quaker  dancer,  this  smiling  tourist,  this  susceptible  ad- 
mirer of  beauty,  than  of  most  men  I  have  known.  He  did  not 
expect,  nor  even  wish,  all  mankind  to  resemble  himself  or  be 
governed  by  his  strict  moral  sense.  He  was  ready  to  allow 
leeway  to  the  thoughtless,  the  ignorant,  the  young,  and  espe- 
cially to  the  grotesque.  His  sense  of  humor  was  quick  and 
keen,  though  he  had  not  the  Attic  salt  of  witty  expression  in 
much  readiness ;  and  whatever  appealed  to  his  toleration  of  the 
grotesque  was  inwardly  pleasing.  Like  Jaques,  when  he  met 
Touchstone  in  the  forest  of  Arden, 

His  lungs  began  to  crow  like  Chanticleer 

whenever  he  encountered  those  oddities  that  every  traveller 
must  meet  as  he  passes  from  country  to  country.  The  best- 
natured  man  in  the  world,  he  was  an  admirable  travelling  com- 
panion and  the  happiest  kind  of  tourist ;  for  nothing  pleased 
him  more  than  travel.  In  return,  he  made  friends  everywhere, 
saw  the  best  company  wherever  he  might  be,  and  had  no  glum, 
unsocial  ways,  such  as  might  have  been  associated  by  the  un- 
thinking with  his  Quaker  garb  and  some  traces  of  early  rus- 
ticity which  long  adhered  to  him.  Whist-playing,  dancing, 
music,  and  the  lighter  recreations  of  young  or  old  were  ever 
agreeable  to  him.  His  unquenchable  curiosity  and  his  love  of 
pleasing  made  him  acceptable  everywhere.  His  own  comment 
on  his  first  visit  to  Europe,  of  which  so  much  has  been  said  in 
the  early  chapters,  is  worth  citing.  When  he  was  again  in 
England  in  1849,  ^^  thus  wrote  to  his  sister  Lucy  :  — 


286  RELIGIOUS    IMPRESSIONS 

My  introductions  have  opened  to  me  a  new  circle  of  acquaintance  ; 
and,  either  because  I  was  formerly  much  in  London  or  because  I 
am  a  Uttle  older  and  somewhat  less  verdant,  I  find  I  am  directing 
my  observation  differently.  Boys  of  ten  in  yellow  breeches,  with 
Quaker  coats  big-buttoned,  and  buckled  shoes,  are  no  longer  a 
novelty.  Processions  of  girls  in  blue  frocks,  long  yellow  gloves,  and 
white  caps  decked  with  red  ribbons,  pass  by  me  like  the  idle  wind. 
Lord  mayors  and  sheriffs  in  gilded  coaches,  their  footmen  in  tin- 
selled velvet,  plush,  and  silk,  are  now  to  me  like  the  dancing  figures 
on  a  wandering  hand-organ.  When  I  was  here  before,  I  gave  my 
attention  almost  wholly  to  acquiring  popular  rather  than  permanently 
useful  knowledge.     Now  I  am  seeking  the  utile  cum  dulce. 

This  self-condemnation  was  hardly  warranted  by  the  facts  of 
1837-39,  but  he  had  passed  through  much  of  the  serious  path- 
way of  life  in  the  intervening  ten  years.  Among  other  experi- 
ences he  had  cherished  an  unsuccessful  love  for  an  American 
lady  whom  he  met  in  Europe  on  his  first  visit,  the  recollection 
of  which  may  have  been  the  decisive  reason  why,  with  all  his 
susceptibility  and  all  the  favor  with  which  he  was  received 
by  women,  he  never  married.  In  this  instance  calm  friendship 
had  followed  the  temporary  interruption  of  correspondence, 
renewed  years  after,  and  containing,  on  the  lady's  part,  some 
passages  concerning  spiritual  subjects,  which  should  be  quoted 
as  giving  a  higher  view  of  the  faith  held  by  women  in  the 
Society  of  Friends  than  might  be  inferred  from  some  of  the 
citations  already  made  regarding  theological  disputes.  Miss  X. 
writes  :  — 

I  perceive  that  you  incline  to  the  spiritual  acceptation  of  some  of 
the  phenomena  [of  mind-reading,  etc.].  All  minds  cultivated  in  the 
Quaker  faith  are  more  inclined  to  admit  such  an  interpretation  than 
the  rationalistic  and  philosophic  many.  ...  I  say  ratio7ialistic  instead 
of  rational^  as  opposed  to  spiritual,  in  my  definition,  because  I  think 
the  spiritual  and  the  rational  are  intimately  allied.  Indeed,  a  truly 
spiritual  being  must  be  rational,  since  the  greater  includes  the  less. 
But  I  mean  that  casuistry  of  thought,  self-styled  philosophy,  which 
assumes  independence  of  the  religious  element,  and  explains  all 
facts,  all  laws,  all  miracles,  by  its  own  infallible  insight,  becoming 


i853  287 

absurd  through  egotism.  To  these  there  is  no  sacredness,  no 
mystery,  even  in  the  manifestations  of  Supreme  Power :  miracles  are 
not,  because  they  do  not  need  them.  The  true  Quaker,  on  the  con- 
trary, should  be  a  humble,  gentle,  self-distrusting  spirit,  leaning  on  a 
Power  so  vast,  so  incomprehensible,  yet  so  ever-present,  that  he  bor- 
rows its  serenity  through  fidelity  and  inmost  obedience.  This  influ- 
ence inclines  Quakers  more  than  other  men  to  receive  any  new  mani- 
festation of  the  spiritual  with  great  readiness,  because  they  believe  the 
universe  of  matter  and  of  mind  to  be  pervaded  by  the  living  power  of 
an  ever-creating  God.  To  me  the  strongest  evidence  of  the  miracles 
of  the  New  Testament  is  in  the  conviction  of  my  own  soul.  They 
commend  themselves  to  me  as  true  by  their  harmony  with  the  super- 
human nature  of  him  who  wrought  them,  by  their  lofty  lessons  of 
benevolence,  self-sacrifice,  and  triumph  over  common  circumstances. 
They  prove  the  superiority  of  God  to  all  the  known  laws  of  his 
universe,  but  they  reach  beyond  our  sight  to  that  world  of  spirit 
that  we  believe  lies  all  around  us  here.  Fidelity  is  the  key-note  to 
that  eternal  harmony  of  which  we  only  dream  in  this  mode  of  being, 
but  whose  faint  echoes  come  to  us  now  and  then,  to  reconcile  us  to 
many  privations,  and  bind  us  more  firmly  to  the  great  task  of  life's 
duties. 

How  superior  this  spiritual  insight  and  assured  faith  in  the 
unseen  even  to  that  sublime  passage  of  Latin  verse  *  which 
the  Pythagorean  Avienus  prefixed  to  his  paraphrase  of  the 
astronomical  poem  of  the  Greek  Aratus  !  and  which  may  thus 
be  rendered,  in  the  measure  so  familiar  to  Dr.  Earle  and  his 
contemporaries, —  the  iambic  pentameter  of  Pope  and  Gold- 
smith :  — 

Yonder  the  hall,  and  there  the  primal  throne 
Of  God,  the  Father,  is  in  lightnings  shown, — 
Germ  of  all  motion,  elemental  might, 
Ethereal  fire,  earth's  heat,  and  core  of  light ; 

*  Hie  statio,  hie  sedes  primi  Patris ;  iste  patemi 
Principium  motus,  vis  fulminis  iste  corusei, 
Vita  elementorum,  mundi  calor,  aetheris  ignis, 
Astrorumque  vigor,  perpes  substantia  lucis, 
Et  numerus  celsi  modulaminis ;  hie  tener  aer 
Materiaeque  gravis  concretio ;  succus  ab  alto 
Corporibus  coelo ;  cunctarum  aliraonia  rerum  ; 
Flos  et  flamma  animae,  qui  discurrente  meatu, 
Molis  primigenae  penetralia  dura  resolvens, 
Implevit  largo  venas  operatus  amore,  et  seq. 


265  AVIENUS    AND    THE    FRIENDS 

Impulse  of  stars,  from  whose  aye-rolling  spheres 

Their  lofty  music  still  my  spirit  hears. 

Soft  air  concurring  with  material  dense, 

This  universe  its  life-blood  draws  from  thence, 

Till  all  its  parts  receive  their  aliments. 

Through  primal  Chaos  in  diffusion  rolls 

Thy  vital  stream,  the  flame  and  flower  of  souls, 

Fills  every  channel  with  thy  potent  aids, 

As  Love  immense  the  impenetrable  pervades. 

A  secret  voice  doth  on  our  hearing  fall :  — 
"  Me  first  and  last  and  midmost  shalt  thou  call ! 
One  and  the  Same  these  acts  diverse  bespeak, 
Be  the  apparent  impulse  strong  or  weak. 
The  Lord  thy  shepherd  is.     The  widest  rove 
Draws  not  his  flock  beyond  his  sacred  love : 
All  earthly  things  in  his  fixed  groove  must  go. 
Grand  master  of  the  uplifted  and  the  low. 
He  governs  well  the  swift-revolving  pole. 
Where  each  unsocial  orb  finds  path  and  goal ; 
Leads  the  fair  dance  of  Seasons  in  the  year, 
Where  Winter's  frosts  no  longer  chill  with  fear, 
Since  softly  smiHng  Spring  comes  on  amain. 
And  dusty  Summer  parches  up  the  plain, 
Till  Autumn's  burden  falls  of  fruit  and  grain." 

Here  it  is  the  visible  universe  on  which  the  thought  of  the 
poet  is  fixed  :  in  the  exhortation  of  the  disciple  of  Fox  and 
Woolraan,  it  is  the  Inner  Light,  more  attractive  than  all  the  suns 
and  stars  and  abrupt  fires  of  heaven,  which  carries  confidence 
to  her  mind.  Her  remarks  were  called  out  by  some  account 
which  Dr.  Earle  had  written  of  the  "  manifestations  "  of  so- 
called  "  Spiritualism,"  then  common  ;  and  this,  again,  had  been 
in  response  to  her  observations  on  Feuchtersleben  and  his 
theory  of  Imagination,  concerning  which  she  said:  — 

How  striking  is  his  expression,  "There  is  no  other  entity  but 
activity, —  the  purest,  the  only  true  enjoyment  of  living  beings  "  I 
How  much  philosophy  in  this  epigram:  "Annoyance  is  man's 
leaven,  the  element  of  movement.  Without  it  we  should  grow 
mouldy " !      How    keen,    yet    how    true,    that    hypochondriasis    is 


I849-I853  289 

egoism  carried  to  excess,  and  that  egoism  arises  from  want  of  cul- 
tivation !  How  beautiful  this  tribute  to  Nature,  "  Her  significant 
silence  develops  man "  !  His  remarks  upon  Imagination  seem  to 
me  to  explain  many  of  the  phenomena  attributed  to  mesmeric  or 
spiritual  agencies,  some  of  which  I  have  witnessed  lately  [June, 
1853]  with  curious  interest.  The  undoubted  integrity  of  the 
medium  left  no  other  rational  interpretation  of  the  result  save  that 
of  "the  vital  effects  of  one  individual  reacting  on  another  who  is  un- 
conscious of  the  influence."  Is  it  equally  true  that  ^'  all  Nature  is 
but  an  echo  of  the  mind ;  and  from  her  we  learn  the  highest  of  all 
laws, —  that  the  Real  springs  from  the  Ideal,  and  the  Ideal  by  degrees 
remodels  the  world  "  ? 

It  was  not  often  that  Dr.  Earle  found  himself  debating  these 
high  philosophical  questions  in  his  correspondence,  but  he  was 
long  interested  in  that  unexplained  side  of  nature  which  is  here 
touched  upon.  He  had  seen  many  experiments  in  mesmer- 
ism and  its  related  semi-sciences,  from  1840  onwards,  both  in 
America  and  Europe;  but  he  reached  no  definite  conclusion, 
except  that  much  was  imposture  and  much  also  inexplicable. 

Perhaps,  after  all,  the  true  explanation  of  Dr.  Earle's  remain- 
ing single  through  life  is  that  given  concerning  the  banker- 
poet,  Rogers,  with  whom  he  dined  at  the  hospitable  house  of 
Charles  Dickens  in  London,  July  5,  1849.  He  told  the  anec- 
dote in  an  account  of  the  dinner  sent  to  his  sister  a  day  or  two 
later :  — 

I  was  punctual  to  the  hour  named  in  the  invitation,  6.15  p.m.,  and 
was  met  in  the  entrance  hall  by  two  white-gloved  men-servants,  who 
showed  me  to  the  library,  where  I  was  received  by  Mr.  Dickens,  his 
wife,  and  a  young  lady  of  one-and-twenty,  with  an  intelligent,  amiable 
countenance  and  a  profusion  of  curling  hair.  In  a  few  minutes  Mr. 
Prescott,  of  Boston,  entered, —  a  so«  of  our  historian  of  Mexico, — 
soon  followed  by  Mrs.  Macready,  wife  of  the  actor,  and  she  by  George 
Sumner,  the  brother  of  Charles.  Conversation  ran  briskly  for  half 
an  hour,  when  Mr,  Dickens  said  it  was  dinner  time,  but  they  were 
waiting  for  Mr.  Rogers.  Hardly  had  he  spoken  when  the  door 
opened,  and  a  man  entered,  burdened  with  the  weight  of  eighty 
years,  short  of  stature,  robust  of  body,  his  head  large,  bald,  but  with 
some  hair  perfectly  white, —  in  his  general  appearance  much  resem- 


290  ROGERS    THE    BANKER-POET 

bling  the  late  John  Quincy  Adams.  This  was  the  poet,  the  author  of 
"  Italy  "  and  the  "  Pleasures  of  Memory."  There  were  no  more 
guests,  Mr.  Bancroft,  our  ambassador,  having  been  invited,  but  de- 
tained by  a  previous  engagement, —  the  annual  Speech  Day  at 
Harrow-on-the-Hill,  the  school  of  Byron,  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  other 
celebrities. 

At  our  dinner  there  was  no  learned  or  literary  talk,  but  Dickens's 
readiness  and  fund  of  anecdote  were  always  at  hand  to  fill  any  gap 
in  the  conversation.  Mr.  Rogers  was  mirthful,  or,  rather,  showed  a 
quaint,  quiet,  piquant  humor.  He  seemed  much  disposed  to  talk 
with  the  ladies,  still  exhibiting  that  general  preference  for  the  sex 
which,  as  the  curling-haired  young  lady  afterwards  remarked,  has 
prevented  him  from  forming  any  individual  alliance  with  a  partner 
for  life.  He  suggested  going  to  Vauxhall  in  a  part}^,  and  the  ladies 
promised  to  go.  Soon  after,  talking  of  women,  he  said  that,  much  as 
he  liked  them,  they  had  one  fault  —  they  take  other  people  at  their  own 
valuation,  and  so  always  fall  in  love  with  coxcombs.  Mrs.  Macready 
cried  out  upon  this  as  the  most  ungallant  speech  she  had  ever  heard 
from  him,  and  she  with  the  other  ladies  declared  they  wouldn't 
go  with  him  to  Vauxhall.  "  However,  you  are  right,"  said  Mrs. 
Macready. 

Dr.  Earle's  "  general  preference  for  the  sex  "  did  not  prevent 
him  from  strongly  favorable  impressions  in  regard  to  particular 
ladies,  one  of  whom,  Fraulein  Fanny  Martini,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Martini,  of  Leubus  in  Silesia,  corresponded  with  him  for  a  year 
or  two  after  meeting  him  at  her  father's  asylum,  where  he  spent 
several  days  in  the  summer  of  1849.  Her  letters  display  a 
lively,  cultivated  mind,  fond  of  poetry  and  novels,  and  thus  ap- 
pealing to  his  literary  tastes.  Her  personal  charms  must  hav^e 
been  marked,  from  the  solicitude  of  Dr.  Earle  to  continue  the 
acquaintance  ;  for  he  was  ever  captivated  by  beauty.  She  had 
begun  their  conversation  at  Leubus  by  some  smart  saying  about 
"dreadful  Quakers,"  which  led  him  in  his  first  letter  from  Paris 
to  give  her  an  account  of  who  and  what  Quakers  are.  To 
this  she  replied  in  sprightly  English  :  — 

I  am  vain  enough  to  believe  all  the  kind  words  in  which  you  re- 
member Leubus,  especially  as  I  presume  Quakers  are  not  allowed  to 


1849-1853  291 

flatter.  Believe,  my  dear  sir,  that  I  not  only  found  nothing  "  dread- 
ful "  in  receiving  your  letter,  but  we  all  were  very  glad  and  happy 
that  you  had  not  forgotten  us.  May  you  sometimes  when  at  home 
and  with  your  family  remember  your  German  friends,  and  may  you 
not  quite  forget  the  thoughtless  girl  who  gave  the  best  evidence  of 
her  ignorance  by  calling  the  Quakers  dreadful !  And  still,  my  good 
sir,  can  I  not  blame  so  much  the  said  forwardness  ;  for  without  it  I 
fear  I  should  never  have  heard  of  all  those  truly  Christian  and  moral 
laws  and  institutions  of  which  you  v/ere  kind  enough  to  tell  me  in 
your  letter.  ...  As  to  the  reading  of  novels,  I  am  sure  that  the 
human  heart,  and  especially  that  of  woman,  is  almost  the  same  in 
every  land  and  nation ;  that  it  is  ever  eager  to  dream ;  and  then  that 
charming  and  pernicious  butterfly.  Fancy  !  I  must  tell  you  that  I 
read  now  "  Dombey  and  Son,"  and  am  perfectly  charmed  by  the 
description  of  Florence.  It  is  indeed  a  pity  that  she  is  less  curious 
than  myself,  and  never  thinks  of  reading  the  manuscripts  of  her  poor 
beautiful  mamma.  If  you  ever  see  Mr.  Dickens  once  more,  ah  !  tell 
him  that,  if  he  has  many  admirers  in  Germany,  there  are  none  who 
Hke  more  his  genius  and  the  excellent  heart  he  must  possess  than 
my  mother  and  myself.  .  .  .  Balls,  an  amusement  very  seldom  afforded 
to  me  at  Leubus,  gave  me  great  pleasure  at  Dresden  and  delight  in 
dancing.  I  hope  you  have  not  forgotten  the  Fran^aise  (or,  rather, 
quadrille)  on  my  birthday ;  and  I  am  sure  that,  if  it  depended  on 
your  decision,  you  would  not  only  allow  your  amiable  and  beautiful 
Quaker  ladies  a  little  dancing,  but  help  them  even  in  doing  so.  .  .  . 
I  would  commit  to  you  to  read  the  prosaic  works  of  our  dear  Schiller, 
and  for  common  usage  the  German  newspapers.  Unfortunately,  we 
have  but  few  well-written  novels  in  German,  nothing  but  bad  trans- 
lations, the  politics  and  philosophical  literature  being  solely  cultivated 
by  our  literators.  Novels  are  left  to  the  care  of  lady  writers,  who, 
unfortunately,  try  to  copy  George  Sand,  producing  books  that  have 
neither  morality,  religion,  or  real  good  taste,  and  not  having  even 
the  excuse  of  an  erratic  genius  and  the  charm  of  originality.  We 
have  most  charming  poems  by  Geibel,  Uhland,  Chamisso,  and  the 
delicious  little  poems  of  Goethe. 

It  seems  a  pity  that  this  spiriUielle  Silesian  Fanny  could  not 
be  induced  to  cross  the  Atlantic, —  she  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  unwilling, —  and  become  the  bride  of  the  Quaker  whom 


292  FANNY    MARTINI    AND    THACKERAY 

she  found  no  longer  "dreadful."  She  waited  three  years  for 
the  proposal  which  might  have  been  expected  but  never  came, 
and  then  married  in  Germany,  communicating  the  engagement 
to  Dr.  Earle  in  a  letter  of  January,  1853,  which  also  expressed 
her  deep  interest  in  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  just  read,  and  her 
unfavorable  verdict  on  Thackeray,  whom  she  had  met  in  Dres- 
den.    Of  him  she  wrote  :  — 

The  most  interesting  of  our  new  Dresden  acquaintances  was  Mr. 
R.  Noel,  the  phrenologist,  himself  very  amiable  ;  and  in  his  house 
we  saw  Thackeray,  the  great  English  novelist.  Perhaps  you  have 
become  acquainted  with  him  in  America,  for  he  was  on  his  way 
there.  I  must  confess  that  his  person  is  very  different  from  what  I 
supposed  him  to  be,  and  that  I  was  not  a  little  disappointed  by  his 
serious  and  inaccessible  manners. 

This  description  of  Thackeray's  manners  could  never  apply 
to  Dr.  Earle,  who  was  ever  kindly  and  gracious,  with  a  touch 
of  courtliness  as  he  grew  older,  and  became  the  protector  of  so 
many  helpless  and  unfortunate  persons.  He  had  written  to 
Miss  Fanny  from  Cuba  or  soon  after  his  return  in  1852,  and 
awakened  in  her  the  old  desire  to  travel  and  know  the  world  by 
sight,  in  which  she  strongly  resembled  her  American  friend. 
She  says  :  — 

Your  description  of  the  isle  of  Cuba  highly  interested  me,  and 
once  more  made  my  heart  thrill  with  the  evident  desire  to  see  the 
world  and  its  wonders.  I  am  sure  it  is  a  shame  and  a  pity  I  am  not 
a  man.  How  I  would  roam  through  lands  and  seas,  always  eager 
to  learn,  to  see  new  and  various  scenes  of  life,  new  customs,  and 
foreign  people !  A  woman's  lot  is  beautiful,  very  true  ;  but  the 
tranquillity,  the  limitedness,  of  a  homeward  life  is  not  for  all.  And 
my  only  comfort  is  books,  enabling  me  at  least  to  hear  of  things  I 
shall  perhaps  never  see.  ...  I  hope  you  believe  that  I  am  no  more 
afraid  of  Quakers  or  think  them  to  be  dreadful,  even  if  you  had  not 
told  me  of  the  meeting,  where  the  young  people  do  quite  the  same  as 
everywhere,  in  all  countries  and  in  every  tongue, —  flirting  and  mak- 
ing love.  And  so  I  believe  almost,  my  dear  sir,  that  you,  too,  found, 
perhaps,  at  that  same  meeting  the  friend  whose  love  and  care  shall 


i844  293 

embellish  your  life  and  soothe  every  sorrow.  May  it  be  so  !  for  a 
being  so  kind  as  you  are  is  not  made  for  solitude  and  a  single  life. 
You  see  I  have  become  an  advocate  for  marriage.  You  know  I  was 
resolved  never  to  marry,  but  Heaven  would  not  have  me  an  old 
maid. 

As  Lander  said, — 

"  I  will  not  love."     This  word  has  often 

Come  from  a  troubled  breast, 
Seldom  from  one  no  sighs  can  soften. 

Seldom  from  one  at  rest. 

The  advice  of  Fanny  Martini  was  good,  but  her  friend  never 
availed  of  it. 

Probably  the  best  explanation  of  Dr.  Earle's  celibacy  was 
the  care  which  circumstances  required  him  to  take  of  some 
members  of  his  own  family.  A  brother  of  great  mechanical 
ingenuity,  but  of  little  worldly  prudence,  a  sister  who  claimed 
much  tenderness  and  consideration,  and  to  whom  he  wrote 
more  frequently  than  to  any  other  person,  a  younger  brother 
who,  in  the  words  of  a  Leicester  neighbor,*  "had  less  than  his 
equal  share  of  the  mind  and  capacity  of  the  family,  but  a  gift 
at  'the  plain  language'  in  more  than  mere  words,"  — all  these 
had  a  claim  on  a  brother's  thoughtfulness  which  his  marriage 
might  have  impaired  or  set  aside.  As  years  went  stealthily 
by,  at  times  darkened  by  his  depressed  moods,  a  feeling  of  this 
kind  would  gain  strength  in  his  equitable  mind  ;  and,  if  it 
could  not  keep  him  from  falling  in  love,  it  might  prevent  those 
indissoluble  ties  which  bind  the  married  man. 

Dr.  Earle  has  been  mentioned  as  "  one  of  the  founders  "  of 
the  American  Journal  of  Insanity,  but  the  remark  is  not  liter- 
ally true.  That  long-established  quarterly  was  the  sole  vent- 
ure of  Dr.  Brigham,  then  (in  1844)  the  head  of  the  New  York 
State  Asylum  at  Utica,  N.Y.  But  Dr.  Earle  was  the  first  col- 
league whom  he  took  into  his  confidence,  writing  to  him  thus 
at  Bloomingdale,  May  28,  1844:  — 

*  Rev.  Samuel  May,  the  veteran  Abolitionist,  a  classmate  of  Dr.  O.  W.  Holmes,  and  one  of  the 
small  band  which  early  rallied  round  Garrison,  vs-ith  his  cousins,  S.  J.  May,  S.  E.  Sewall,  and  Bron- 
son  Alcott.     See  his  general  reminiscences  of  the  Earle  family  in  the  Appendix,  page  3S3. 


294  DR-    BRIGHAM    AND    DR.    EARLE 

I  am  about  starting  an  American  Journal  of  Insanity,  quarterly, 
octavo,  pages  ninety-six,  edited  by  the  officers  of  this  asylum.  The 
first  number  will  be  published  early  in  July.  It  is  intended  for  the 
general  public  as  well  as  for  the  profession.  This  is  an  entire 
secret,  as  I  have  mentioned  it  to  no  one  except  Dr.  [T.  Romeyne] 
Beck,  of  Albany.  The  first  number  I  must  prepare  myself;  but 
after  this  I  ought  and  must  have  help,  and  I  shall  look  to  you,  and 
hope  to  interest  you  in  the  work.  I  will  send  you  immediately  the 
first  number,  when  out,  and  shall  want  your  opinion,  advice,  and 
assistance.  .  .  .  June  lo. —  I  feel  under  great  obligation  to  you  for 
your  kind  words  of  encouragement  about  the  JotirnaL  I  shall  adapt 
it  to  the  general  reader,  though  I  hope  to  make  it  useful  to  the 
profession,  especially  after  I  get  you  and  others  to  contribute  to  it. 

This  soon  happened ;  and  Dr.  Earle  had  a  long  article, 
adapted  to  the  "general  reader,"  on  "The  Poetry  of  Insanity," 
in  the  number  for  January,  1845,  which,  as  Dr.  Brigham  wrote, 
"  has  brought  in  letters  many  fine  compliments  for  you  from 
school-dames  up,  or  down,  to  grave  doctors  of  divinity."  In 
connection  with  Dr.  Earle's  innovation  of  reading  lectures  to 
his  Bloomingdale  patients,  Dr.  Brigham  makes  these  suggestive 
remarks  in  a  letter  of  February  27  :  — 

I  see  that  you  lecture.  It  is  a  good  idea ;  but  suppose  you 
lecture  to  them  on  insanity, —  that  is,  in  a  way  to  instruct  them 
about  the  nature  of  their  disease,  its  prevention,  etc.  ?  I  find  it 
does  no  harm,  and  to  some  patients  it  does  good  to  talk  with  them 
about  insanity,  etc.  One  patient  now  here,  a  physician,  says  his 
knowledge  of  diseases,  especially  insanity,  enabled  him  to  guard 
against  attacks  repeatedly.  I  beUeve,  if  people  were  well  instructed 
on  insanity,  there  would  be  less  of  it. 

It  was  the  same  belief  which  kept  Dr.  Earle  assiduously 
writing  for  so  many  years  on  a  subject  in  itself  unattractive 
and  for  readers  too  often  inattentive.  But  he  did  not  regret 
this  labor,  nor  consider  it  lost,  any  more  than  his  German  con- 
temporary, Dr.  Heinrich  Laehr  (mentioned  in  his  "  German 
Asylums  "),  who  continued  to  exchange  publications  with  Dr. 
Earle,  and  wrote  to  him  repeatedly  in  their  old  age.  In  one  of 
these  letters  of  1887  Dr.  Laehr  says  :  — 


1846-1892  ■  295 

I  recall  with  great  pleasure  both  occasions  (in  1849  ^^^  ^^71) 
when  I  met  you  in  Halle,  and  here  at  Zehlendorf,  in  my  Schweizer- 
hof.*  Though  I  have  read  that  you  have  given  up  the  public  office 
you  so  long  held,  and  intrusted  to  other  hands  the  fruitful 
labor  of  so  many  years,  yet  I  am  certain  you  did  not  thereby 
renounce  our  calling,  to  which  your  life  has  been  devoted.  Rather 
have  you  gained  leisure  for  the  improvement  of  our  science,  without 
losing  interest  in  it.  You  have  not  only  witnessed  the  chief  develop- 
ment of  it  in  America,  but  have  had  a  share  in  that  development ; 
and  I  fancy  that  a  glance  into  the  past,  such  as  my  "  Gedenktage 
der  Psychiatrie  aller  Lander "  permits,  will  receive  more  sympathy 
from  you  than  from  our  younger  brethren,  who  are  inclined  to  look 
forward,  and  too  easily  forget  that  they  stand  on  the  shoulders  of 
others.  May  God  grant  you  strength  for  effort  and  pleasure  in  the 
work  of  our  noble  profession  ! 

The  last  work  done  by  Dr.  Earle  in  this  line  was  the  chap- 
ter on  "  Curability "  in  Dr.  Tuke's  Dictionary  of  Psychologi- 
cal Medicine,  published  in  1892,  in  which  Dr.  Laehr  also  had 
a  chapter  on  the  "  History  of  the  Insane  in  Germany."  But 
Dr.  Earle  did  not  live  to  see  the  volumes  issued,  though  he 
read  the  proof  of  his  article. 

In  1846,  when  Dr.  Brigham  had  made  his  quarterly  success- 
ful, he  desired  Dr.  Earle  to  become  its  owner  and  editor,  recog- 
nizing in  him  the  qualities  which  made  him  so  long  the  collector 
and  disseminator  of  truths  which  the  profession  and  the  public 
needed  to  know.  He  wrote  to  him  (Nov.  11,  1847):  "I  am 
getting  old  and  averse  to  labor,  and  cannot,  I  think,  take  charge 
of  the  Journal  another  year.  Will  you  not  take  it }  Under 
your  charge  it  would  do  much  good.  There  are  now  sub- 
scribers enough  to  pay,  and  it  brings  many  exchanges.  I  hope 
you  will  think  favorably  of  it."  The  offer  could  not  be  accepted  ; 
and,  when  given  up  by  Dr.  Brigham,  it  passed,  for  long  years, 
into  the  control  of  an  able  man  who  made  it  too  much  the  organ 
of  his  own  opinions  and  interests,  so  that  from  1854  to  1867 
no  article  by  Dr.  Earle  appeared  in  its  pages.     In  its  first  ten 

*  This  was  a  private  asylum  which  Dr.  Laehr  had  long  directed,  and  which  he  gave  over  to  his 
son  in  1SS9.  In  1849  he  had  been  an  assistant  of  Dr.  Damerow,  at  Halle,  where  Dr.  Earle  first  met 
him. 


296  WRITINGS    OF    DR.   EARLE 

years  he  had  published  fifteen  articles  there,  and  his  work  on 
the  German  Asylums  made  four  of  these  articles  in  1852-53. 
In  1867-68  he  published  four  articles  there,  three  of  them  being 
public  addresses,  and  in  1877  a  portion  of  his  work  on  "Cura- 
bility." Could  he  have  edited  the  Journal  in  the  spirit  of  its 
founder,  it  would  much  sooner  have  reached  that  comprehen- 
sive, scientific  position  which  it  has  held  for  some  years  past. 

Dr.  Earle's  medium  of  communication  with  the  public,  here 
and  in  Europe,  was  the  much  earlier  established  Philadelphia 
quarterly,  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  to 
which  he  contributed  not  less  than  fifteen  original  papers  and 
eighty-five  reviews  of  books  and  reports  between  August,  1838 
(when  a  part  of  his  graduating  thesis  of  the  year  before  was 
printed),  and  January,  1869,  when  he  reviewed  the  annual  re- 
ports of  fifteen  American  hospitals  for  the  insane.  When  the 
New  York  Academy  of  Medicine  was  founded,  he  read  the  first 
paper  before  its  members,  a  "  History  of  Insane  Hospitals  in 
the  United  States,"  which  was  published  by  the  Academy,  and 
afterwards  used  in  his  long  chapter  on  "  Insanity  "  in  the  census 
volume  for  i860,  and  in  a  shorter  article  on  the  same  subject  in 
the  American  Almanac  of  G.  W.  Childs,  the  celebrated  Phila- 
delphia journalist  and  publisher. 

He  also  contributed  occasionally  to  the  London  Jour7ial 
of  Mental  Science,  while  under  the  editorship  of  his  English 
friends,  Drs.  Bucknill  and  D.  H.  Tuke,  with  the  latter  of  whom 
he  maintained  correspondence  as  long  as  he  lived.  The  death 
of  Dr.  Tuke  has  prevented  me  from  obtaining  the  letters  of  Dr. 
Earle  ;  but  from  those  of  the  Tuke  family,  of  which  he  knew 
three  generations,  a  few  passages  may  be  cited  :  — 

York,  16,  8  7110.,  1841. —  [Samuel  Tuke.]  I  must  in  the  first  place 
thank  thee  for  a  copy  of  thy  "  Notes  on  a  Visit  to  the  Asylums  for 
the  Insane  in  Europe,"  with  which  I  was  much  interested.  In  the 
second  place  I  must  express  my  satisfaction  and  pleasure  in  finding 
that  thou  art  applying  thy  knowledge  and  skill  to  that  department  of 
thy  profession  which  treats  the  diseases  of  the  mind,  and  that  thy 
talents  are  engaged  in  connection  with  the  Asylum  for  Friends  at 
Philadelphia.     It  is  matter  of  deep  satisfaction  to  me  to  see  how 


1841-1873  297 

many  intelligent  and  right-minded  persons  are  now  earnestly  engaged 
in  studying  the  alleviation  and  care  of  the  most  grievous  of  maladies. 
I  hope  the  work  of  Dr.  Jacobi  [of  Siegburg,]  which  I  have  had  trans- 
lated, will  prove  acceptable  to  those  engaged  in  the  management  of 
our  hospitals  for  the  insane.  I  have  gone,  in  the  Introduction,  into 
the  question  of  the  prevalence  of  insanity  in  England,  and  particularly 
in  the  Society  of  Friends,  I  wish  you  would  investigate  that  subject 
thoroughly  in  your  State.  Thou  wilt,  I  think,  be  interested  in  our 
"  statistical  tables,"  which  have  just  been  printed,  and  of  which  I 
send  six  copies.  I  was  much  interested  in  yours,  which  has  lately 
come  to  hand  [Report  of  the  Friends'  Asylum]. 

It  was  these  tables  of  the  York  Retreat  which  first  put  Dr. 
Earle  upon  his  lifelong  inquiry  into  the  curability  of  the  insane. 
Samuel  Tuke's  opinion  was  that  insanity  among  Quakers  was 
much  promoted  by  their  close  intermarriages,  and  this  was  why 
he  wished  his  young  friend  to  make  thorough  investigation  in  a 
matter  of  some  delicacy. 

Falmouth,  Feb.  i,  1873. —  [D.  H.  Tuke.]  The  arrival  of  your  an- 
nual report,  which  I  have  studied  with  much  interest,  induces  me  to 
write  now.  I  shall  find  the  statistics  of  use  in  revising,  as  I  am  now 
doing,  our  "  Manual  of  Psychological  Medicine  "  for  a  third  edition. 
What  is  the  most  recent  ascertained  proportion  of  lunatics  (insane 
and  idiots)  in  the  United  States  ?  As  it  stands  in  the  Manual,  it  is 
I  in  738,  as  reported  in  i860.  Can  thou  at  the  same  time  give  me 
any  statistical  evidence,  beyond  what  appears  in  your  report,  that 
in  America  over-education  and  excessive  emotional  excitement  mate- 
rially increase  the  number  of  the  insane  .''  I  have  always  maintained 
they  do ;  but  at  present  it  is  hard  to  prove  it  in  England,  where  sta- 
tistics are  all  in  favor  of  the  lunacy-producing  effects  of  ignorance. 
Dr.  Thurnam  is  a  convert  to  this  view,  which  has  been  ably  sup- 
ported by  Dr.  Benjamin  Richardson. 

I  sent  a  copy  of  my  book,  "The  Influence  of  the  Mind  upon  the 
Body  in  Health  and  Diseases,"  in  October,  1872,  for  thy  acceptance. 
Has  t\iQ  Journal  of  Insanity  or  any  other  journal  noticed  it?  It  lays 
claim  to  no  original  views,  but  I  hope  it  will  be  found  a  useful  book, 
and  may  induce  some  to  employ  psycho-therapeutics  more  definitely. 
What  address  would  find  Miss  Dix  now  ? 


290  DR.  TUKE  S    COMMENTS 

In  the  autumn  of  1884  Dr.  Tuke  visited  America,  and  spent 
a  day  or  two  with  Dr.  Earle  at  the  Northampton  Hospital, 
which  then  for  the  first  time  came  under  his  observant  eye. 
His  comments,  taken  from  his  book,  "The  Insane  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada," —  a  very  fair  account  of  the  con- 
ditions then  existing, —  are  as  follows:  — 

The  name  of  Dr.  Earle  is  almost  as  well  known  to  English  as  to 
American  alienists.  He  and  Dr.  J.  S.  Butler  are  now  the  only  sur- 
vivors of  the  original  thirteen  who  founded  (in  1844)  the  American 
Association  of  Superintendents  of  Hospitals  for  the  Insane,  and  he 
was  in  1884  its  president.  Among  the  noteworthy  features  of  his 
hospital  is  its  financial  success.  No  doubt  this  might  be  associated 
with  a  far  from  satisfactory  condition  of  the  patients,  but  the  reverse 
is  the  case.  The  amount  of  work  performed  by  the  patients  has 
been  a  point  of  special  attention  with  Dr.  Earle.  Thus  the  laundry 
work  for  an  average  of  530  persons  is  done  with  only  two  assistants 
(women),  whose  aggregate  wage  is  $35  a  month.  For  the  last  fifteen 
years  two-thirds  of  all  the  necessary  manual  labor  upon  the  premises, 
Dr.  Earle  says,  has  been  performed  by  the  patients.  With  an  aver- 
age of  over  30  cows,  the  milking  is  all  done  by  patients,  an  employee 
overseeing  them.  The  poultry-house  is  under  the  sole  charge  of 
a  patient.  I  may  mention  the  remarkable  extent  to  which  indoor 
recreation  in  some  form  is  carried  out :  The  patients  assemble  in  the 
chapel  almost  every  evening  for  instruction,  entertainment,  and 
amusement ;  and  Dr.  Earle  is  convinced  that  the  labor  and  expense 
thus  bestowed  bring  a  liberal  recompense  in  the  contentment  and 
satisfaction  of  the  patients,  and  their  greater  self-control  and  orderly 
conduct,  not  only  during  these  meetings,  but  at  other  times  and 
places.  .  .  .  The  farm  is  one  of  the  important  means  in  the  hygienic 
and  restorative  treatment  of  patients,  and  affords  no  inconsiderable 
source  of  income, —  upwards  of  $10,000  per  annum. 

From  frequent  visits,  official  and  otherwise,  to  Dr.  P2arle's 
hospital,  I  can  fully  confirm  these  statements.  Probably  I 
have  "assisted,"  as  the  French  say,  at  fifty  of  these  evening 
lectures  and  readings  in  Northampton,  once  or  twice  with  Miss 
Dix  in  her  visits  there.  Dr.  Earle  began  the  system  of  lectures 
to  patients  at  Frankford  in  the  winter  of  1840-41,  the  first  in- 


1864-1885  299 

stance  of  the  kind  known.  At  Northampton  he  proceeded  on 
a  more  liberal  scale,  bought  costly  apparatus  for  illustrating 
chemistry  and  physics,  and  indulged  his  taste  for  travel  by 
collecting  views  of  foreign  cities  and  countries,  and  exhibiting 
them  to  his  patients  with  illustrative  lectures.  In  his  third 
winter  at  Northampton  (1866-67)  there  were  45  lectures,  6  of 
them  on  brain  disease  and  mental  disorder ;  and  these  last  were 
heard  by  an  average  audience  of  256  patients,  the  average  of 
employees  and  patients  for  the  whole  course  being  282,  when 
the  whole  hospital  population  was  less  than  500.  Dr.  Tuke's 
"every  evening"  must  be  taken  with  some  limitation.  Dr. 
Earle  kept  the  account,  and  has  recorded,  with  his  usual  exact- 
ness, that  in  eighteen  years,  1867-84,  both  included,  "the 
average  annual  number  of  days  on  which  assemblages  of  the 
patients  occurred  was  332 ;  and  the  largest  percentage  of 
patients  in  attendance  was  'j6,  or  more  than  three-fourths."  It 
is  believed  this  experience  is  unique  in  the  history  of  asylums. 

As  for  the  labor  done  by  patients,  I  was  also  personally 
cognizant  of  that  for  more  than  twenty  years ;  and  no  such 
example  has  been  known  to  me,  before  or  since,  in  American 
hospitals.  It  was  to  this  steady  but  not  compulsory  discipline 
of  labor  that  the  financial  success  of  the  hospital  was  due  in 
great  part ;  and,  though  the  record  of  recoveries  at  Northamp- 
ton showed  small  numbers,  because  the  cases  were  so  largely 
chronic,  yet  there  were  many  unrecorded  virtual  recoveries, — 
patients  who,  while  still  insane,  were  capable  of  self-support 
and  self-direction  under  kindly  supervision.  So,  when  I  came 
to  select  patients  of  the  chronic  class  for  boarding  in  families, 
in  1885  and  three  subsequent  years,  I  found  the  largest  pro- 
portion of  desirable  cases  at  Northampton.  Some  of  these, 
after  ten  years  of  family  life  and  perhaps  thirty  years  of  in- 
sanity, are  still  living  comfortably  in  rural  households. 

The  allusion  to  Whittier,  the  Quaker  poet,  in  the  next 
letter  recalls  the  curious  fact  (mentioned  by  Dr.  Earle  in  his 
paper  on  color-blindness  in  1845)  that  so  good  an  observer  of 
nature  was  insensible  to  certain  colors, —  could  not,  for  instance, 
distinguish  between  strawberries  and  their  leaves  by  color 
alone,  and  saw  but  three  colors  in  the  rainbow.     This  might 


300 


■PLIXVS    LETTERS        AND    WHITTIER  S    POEMS 


better  qualify  him  for  a  Quaker  poet  than  for  any  other  kind. 
Dr.  Worthington  had  succeeded  Dr.  Earle  at  Frankford. 

Returned  to  his  pleasant  suburban  retreat,  Lyndon  Lodge, 
at  Hanwell,  where  so  many  American  friends  have  been  hospi- 
tably received,  Dr.  Tuke  thus  wrote  the  next  year  after  his 
book  appeared  :  — 

Jan.  31,  1886. —  I  was  grieved  to  hear  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Worth- 
ington and  Dr.  Sawyer,  to  both  of  whom  I  had  become  attached.  I 
first  saw  Dr.  Worthington  at  York  some  thirty  years  ago.  Then  we 
met  at  Bournemouth,  when  he  was  last  in  England,  and  in  London, 
where  he  was  ill  and  I  attended  him.  I  visited  him  at  Baltimore  in 
1884  very  pleasantly.  His  disposition  was  gentle  and  affectionate 
to  an  unusual  degree.  For  the  conflicts  of  our  present  age  (as  affect- 
ing psychological  politics)  he  evidently  had  no  heart,  and  was  dis- 
posed to  say,  "  Non  possumus,"  to  the  calls  for  reform  in  asylum  and 
almshouse,  contrasting  strongly  with  Dr.  Godding  herein.  Dr. 
Sawder  seemed  the  right  man  in  the  right  place  at  the  Butler  Hos- 
pital in  Providence,  and  it  was  very  agreeable  to  see  him  and  his 
wife  at  Lyndon  Lodge.  I  suppose  the  church  would  label  him  a 
heretic ;  but,  if  so,  there  will  be  many  heretics  in  heaven  among 
those  you  and  I  have  known  and  valued  on  earth. 

I  am  glad  to  see  that  Whittier  has  expressed  his  unity  with  the 
little  book  I  sent  you.  I  find  in  his  poetry  a  continuous  charm  and 
comfort.  As  I  am  almost  always  absorbed  in  insane  studies  and 
people,  I  find  it  necessary  to  break  away  from  them  at  times,  and  then 
generally  resort  to  Whittier. 

Jati.  6,  1888. —  I  should  much  like  to  add  to  my  collection  of 
"  Pliny's  Letters."  I  profit  by  the  occasion  of  the  new  year  to  con- 
gratulate my  old  friend  on  having  lived  to  see  1888,  and  hope  it  finds 
him  still  able  to  enjoy  life  and  occupy  his  retirement  and  well-earned 
leisure  with  congenial  pursuits.  [It  was  in  this  year  that  Dr.  Earle 
closed  his  antiquarian  researches  of  fifty  years  by  the  publication 
and  distribution  of  his  Earle  Genealogy,  a  volume  of  more  than 
five  hundred  octavo  pages,  which  cost  him  thousands  of  dollars,  as 
well  as  almost  endless  correspondence  and  labor,  his  affectionate 
tribute  to  his  American  ancestors  and  kindred  to  the  number  of 
more  than  4,000.]  Did  I  tell  you  of  my  delightful  autumn  holiday 
last  year  in  the  Black  Forest,  and  my  attendance  at  German  medical 


1886-1892  30'[ 

meetings,  in  one  of  which  I  met  Snell,  whom  you  visited  at  Eich- 
berg  ?  I  went  with  him  to  the  old  asylum  there,  but  he  is  now  at 
Hildesheim.  Why  are  German  memories  so  particularly  delightful 
to  us  ?  I  hear  that  you  are  pedigree-hunting.  Remember  that,  if 
the  elision  of  one  letter  would  make  you  an  Earl,  the  change  of  one 
would  make  me  a  Duke. 

Dec.  2,  1888. —  I  am  sorry  to  know  that  the  state  of  your  health 
precludes  the  fulfilment  of  the  dream  of  revisiting  old  England.  Be 
assured  we  should  have  welcomed  you  under  our  roof.  I  am  in- 
terested in  all  the  particulars  you  send  me  of  your  present  mode  of 
life.  When  I  visited  Dr.  Nugent,  the  Irish  inspector  of  asylums, 
who  is  at  least  eighty-four,  I  found  him  with  Cicero's  De  Senectute 
in  his  hand.  What  surprising  mental  and  physical  powers  (I  will 
not  say  judgment)  Gladstone  displays  at  seventy-eight !  John  Bright 
is  supposed  to  be  nearing  his  end.  Strange  whirligig  of  fate  that  he 
should  live  to  have  two  empresses  (our  Queen-Empress  of  India  and 
the  Empress  Frederick)  anxiously  interested  in  his  state,  and  liking 
him  much  better  than  they  do  Gladstone.  Gladstone  has  shown  his 
nice  feeling  by  speaking  kindly  of  Bright,  and  frequently  wiring  to 
know  how  he  is. 

The  Earle  pedigree  miist  have  been  a  very  agreeable  pastime.  I 
used  to  have  a  hobby  that  way  myself,  but  the  cares  of  life  have 
forced  me  to  think  mostly  of  my  own  concerns.  My  only  daughter, 
Maria,  is  to  be  married  next  spring  to  a  doctor  (not  a  Friend),  to 
whom  I  can  intrust  her  with  every  confidence.  Our  consulting 
rooms  are  in  the   same   house  in   Cavendish  Square. 

It  was  in  his  London  house  that  I  called  on  Dr.  Tuke  in 
July,  1890;  and  his  first  inquiry  was  for  Dr.  Earle.  On  my 
second  visit  to  Europe,  in  1892,  our  good  old  friend  had  died, 
and  I  engaged  Dr.  Tuke  to  write  some  reminiscences  for  this 
Memoir ;  but  he  died  too  soon  for  that.  At  his  urgency  I 
visited  the  Alt-Scherbitz  Asylum  in  Saxony,  which  I  agreed 
with  him  in  thinking  even  better  than  the  Northampton  Hospi- 
tal, because  its  houses  were  better  arranged  and  its  system  of 
employment  quite  equal  to  that  of  Dr.  Earle. 

Dr.  Earle  was  for  forty-eight  years  an  honorary  member  of 
the  Medico-Psychological  Association  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland, —  longer,  I  think,  than  his  friend  Dr.  Tuke  was  ;  and  he 


302  DR.   JOHN    THURNAM 

had  contributed  more  than  once  to  the  long-established  y<7«r//rt/ 
of  Mental  Science,  of  which,  at  his  death,  Dr.  Tuke  was  an 
editor.  In  the  first  number  (CLXIII.)  of  the  Journal  after 
this  event  (July,  1892)  appeared  this  notice:  — 

Dr.  Earle,  as  is  well  known,  attracted  great  attention  at  one  time 
to  the  question  of  the  degree  to  which  the  insane  recover,  and  caused 
much  surprise,  not  unaccompanied  with  incredulity,  by  demonstrating 
from  statistics  that  the  percentage  of  recoveries  was  smaller  than 
supposed  and  the  proportion  of  relapses  greater.  He  was  foremost 
in  exploding  the  constant  and  seductive  fallacy  of  confounding  per- 
sons with  cases  ;  and,  unfortunately,  not  a  few  remain  unable  to  under- 
stand or  appreciate  the  distinction  between  the  two.  He  revelled  in 
figures,  whether  scientific  or  financial,  and  in  regard  to  the  former 
may  be  compared  to  Dr.  Thurnam,  for  whose  laborious  researches 
he  entertained  the  greatest  respect.  In  regard  to  asylum  construc- 
tion, he  favored  a  departure  from  the  orthodox  views  current  among 
the  old  school  of  American  alienists.  In  this  and  other  respects  he 
was  a  man  of  independent  opinion.  In  religion  he  was  broad  and 
catholic  in  his  views  and  a  foe  to  theological  intolerance.  Ministers 
of  all  shades  of  belief  officiated  in  turn  at  the  Sunday  services  held  in 
the  asylum. 

Earlier  in  the  same  year  (May  6,  1892),  in  his  address  at  the 
centenary  meeting  of  the  York  Retreat,  Dr.  Tuke,  who  was  the 
great-grandson  of  William  Tuke,  the  virtual  founder  of  that 
pioneer  establishment,  alluded  to  the  visit  made  there  in  1838 
by  Dr.  Earle,  and  spoke  more  at  length  of  Dr.  John  Thurnam, 
its  physician,  who  was  for  years  a  correspondent  of  his  Ameri- 
can friend.  I  find  several  of  his  letters  preserved  by  Dr.  Earle, 
and  may  cite  a  passage  or  two  from  this  first  sober  reasoner  on 
the  curability  of  the  insane.  Dr.  Thurnam  wrote  from  the 
York  Retreat,'  Oct.    14,   1845,  thus:  — 

Respected  Friend, —  In  reply  to  thine  of  the  15th  ult.,  I  may  state 
that  through  Dr.  [Luther]  Bell  I  heard  with  much  pleasure  of  the 
Committee  on  Statistics,  appointed  at  the  meeting  of  your  Associa- 
tion last  year,  and  that  it  would  afford  me  much  pleasure  to  do 
anything  in  my  power  which  might  forward  its  objects.     I  am  not, 


1837-1845  3°3 

however,  aware  of  any  works  on  the  subject  which  have  of  late  issued 
from  the  British  press.  MM.  Parchappe  and  Debonteville,  of  the 
Rouen  Asylum,  have  recently  produced  a  valuable  report,  under  the 
title  of  "  Notice  Statistique  sur  I'Asile  des  Alienes  de  la  Seine 
Inferieure  "  (Rouen,  1845),  which  they  express  their  readiness  to 
exchange  for  the  reports  of  other  asylums.  The  notices  of  British 
asylums  in  Dr.  Julius's  "  Beitrage  zur  Britischen  Heilkunde  "  (Berlin, 
1844)  are  also  interesting  and  valuable. 

My  own  book  was  announced  for  the  present  month,  but  I  fear  it 
may  not  be  actually  out  till  a  month  later.  Though  not  my  own 
publisher,  I  naturally  feel  interested  in  the  success  of  the  publication, 
and  should  be  glad  of  any  suggestion  from  thee  as  to  the  best  method 
of  introducing  the  book  amongst  you.  We  have  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  here  both  Dr.  Bell  and  Dr.  Ray  from  your  country.  The  con- 
tinuance of  such  intercourse  between  the  superintendents  of  the  two 
countries,  I  think,  augurs  well  for  the  prospects  of  asylums  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  I  wish  more  of  us  had  visited  you  than  have 
yet  done  so.  A  member  of  our  committee,  James  H.  Tuke,  has,  I 
expect,  before  this  called  on  thee ;  and  I  hope  he  will  see  many  of 
your  best  asylums  before  he  returns. 

This  gentleman  (J.  H.  Tuke)  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Tuke, 
who  bad  welcomed  Dr.  Earle  to  his  father's  house  in  1837, 
when  he  was  making  his  first  visit  in  York ;  and  the  account  of 
this  given  by  the  young  American  at  the  time,  in  a  letter  home, 
is  worth  citing  here.     He  said  :  — 

Soon  after  dinner,  on  the  day  of  my  arrival  in  this  city,  a  son  of 
Samuel  Tuke  called  at  the  hotel,  with  an  invitation  from  his  father 
for  me  to  make  a  home  at  his  house  during  my  stay  in  York.  This 
politely  proffered  hospitality  was  accepted,  and  I  shall  ever  remem- 
ber with  pleasure  the  hours  which  I  have  spent  beneath  this  roof  in 
the  society  of  an  intellectual  and  intelligent  family.  Samuel  Tuke  is 
well  known  in  the  United  States,  by  those  interested  in  the  treatment 
of  lunatics,  for  the  attention  which  he  has  devoted  to  the  subject,  and 
the  essays  connected  with  it  which  have  emanated  from  his  pen.  It 
is  probable  that  no  other  man  living  without  the  pale  of  the  medical 
profession  is  so  well  acquainted  with  the  proper  management  of  the 
insane  and   the  most  suitable   construction,  arrangement,  and   dis- 


304  THE    YORK    RETREAT 

cipline  of  lunatic  asylums.  His  grandfather  was  the  projector  of  the 
Retreat,  an  institution  of  the  kind  near  York,  which,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  son  and  others,  has  attained  a  high  reputation.  This 
asylum  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  that  great  and  important  revolution 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  moral  treatment  of  the  insane.  "  The 
Retreat  near  York  "  has  long  been  quoted  in  the  United  States  as 
approaching  nearer  to  perfection  in  its  management  and  as  giving 
a  higher  percentage  of  cures  than  any  other  public  establishment  in 
England.  It  was  established  by  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
the  funds  being  obtained  by  annuities,  donations,  and  annual  sub- 
scriptions. The  original  cost  was  ^^"5,971  sterling,  including  the  ex- 
pense of  eleven  acres  of  ground  which  constitutes  the  farm.  The 
receipts  from  patients  were  inadequate  to  defray  the  current  expenses 
for  several  years.  Our  countryman,  Lindley  Murray,  was  an  early 
and  active  promoter  of  the  interests  of  this  estabUshment. 

I  breakfasted  yesterday  with  Dr.  Caleb  H.  Williams,  the  visiting 
physician  of  the  Retreat,  and  he  went  with  me  to  the  asylum,  and 
accompanied  us  through  the  several  departments.  There  are  four 
classes  of  patients  according  to  price.  In  the  lowest  class  the  sum 
of  4  shillings  sterling  per  week  is  paid,  while  in  the  highest  it  varies 
from  20  to  80  shillings. 

Probably  the  York  Retreat  was  the  first  of  the  European 
asylums  inspected  by  Dr.  Earle,  vvrho  afterwards  saw  so  many ; 
and  there  was  none  among  his  colleagues  whom  he  valued  more 
than  Dr.  Thurnam,  who  lived  to  welcome  him  to  England  again 
in  1871.  Dr.  Thurnam  was  not  superintendent  of  the  York 
Retreat  at  the  date  of  Dr.  Earle's  first  visit  there  in  1837,  i^ot 
having  been  appointed  until  1838;  and  he  left  there  in  1849, 
the  same  year  that  Dr.  Earle  left  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum. 
He  then  took  charge  of  the  Wiltshire  County  Asylum,  and 
died  there  Sept.  24,  1873.  It  was  more  than  a  year  before 
Dr.  Earle,  at  Northampton  learned  of  his  friend's  death  ;  and 
I  find  a  letter  of  Mrs.  Thurnam,  of  January,  1875,  informing 
him  of  the  sad  event.     She  wrote  :  — 

Dr.  Thurnam  died  quite  suddenly;  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
asserting  that  his  ceaseless  industry,  his  devotion  to  his  suffering 
fellow-creatures,  and  his  conscientious,  even  overpowering,  sense  of 


1865-1S87  30S 

the  responsibilities  of  his  office  wore  him  out  prematurely.  From 
1838,  when  he  was  appointed  to  the  Friends'  Retreat,  to  the  time 
of  his  death,  thirty-five  years,  he  had  been  unremittingly  at  work, 
dying  at  last,  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  "  in  harness."  No  man 
should  give  more  than  twenty  years  to  such  work.  Be  warned  in 
time !  and,  if  possible,  let  me  urge  upon  you  to  retire  from  the 
battlefield  while  you  can  yet  enjoy  some  well-earned  repose  and 
leisure.  ...  I  venture  to  request  that,  if  Miss  Dix  be  still  living,  and 
yon  can  learn  her  address,  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  inform  her  of 
my  irreparable  loss.     I  think  she  will  be  sorry  for  me. 

Miss  Dix  did  in  fact  survive  until  July,  1887;  and  the  men- 
tion of  her  illustrious  name  gives  occasion  to  speak  of  her  long 
acquaintance  and  friendship  with  Dr.  Earle.  She  was  his  sen- 
ior by  seven  years,  although  careful  not  to  disclose  her  exact 
age,  and  must  have  met  him  while  at  Frankford  or,  perhaps, 
even  earlier.  Like  the  sisters  of  Dr.  Earle,  she  had  been 
a  teacher  of  girls,  contemporaneously  with  them,  and  would 
naturally  have  known  the  family.  But  the  earliest  letter  of 
hers  which  I  find  is  one  written  from  Ohio,  in  severe  illness, 
while  Dr.  Earle  was  at  Bloomingdale,  and  after  one  of  her  self- 
sacrificing  campaigns  in  the  cause  of  the  suffering  insane. 
From  that  time  forward  they  met  and  corresponded  often  ;  and 
it  was  at  the  Northampton  hospital,  as  Dr.  Earle's  guest,  that 
I  first  met  Miss  Dix.  I  had  often  heard  of  her  from  Dr.  Howe 
and  others  who  had  aided  her  in  her  work  or  had  been  her 
pupils  ;  but  when  I  met  her,  in  1865,  age  had  lessened  her 
activity  and  given  even  more  rigidity  to  her  opinions  than  they 
had  by  force  of  her  positive  and  exacting  nature.  With  much 
dignity  of  character  and  great  acquired  experience  of  the 
world,  there  remained  something  of  the  schoolmistress  in  her 
mode  of  presenting  her  subjects  and  meeting  those  differences 
of  opinion  that  occur  even  among  the  most  philanthropic.  A 
Quaker  education,  with  its  repression  of  self  and  its  deference 
to  others,  would  have  modified  that  imperiousness  which  she 
seems  to  have  inherited,  and  which  she  had  learned  to  restrain 
through  tact,  where  her  great  objects  were  fully  in  view. 
Advancing  years  had  lessened  this  tact,  without  rendering  her 


306  MISS    DOROTHEA    DIX 

less  positive.  They  had  also  seen  her  peculiar  work  mainly 
accomplished,  while  for  the  needs  of  the  situation  which  her 
own  heroic  activity  had  so  largely  created  she  had  neither  the 
vital  force  nor  the  special  knowledge  and  discrimination  re- 
quired. Through  her  it  was,  campaigning  for  the  neglected 
insane  from  State  to  State  and  from  country  to  country,  that 
so  many  new  asylums  had  been  built,  so  many  old  ones  en- 
larged ;  but  they  had  in  too  many  instances  become  centres  of 
intellectual  indolence  or  of  semi-political  intrigue ;  to  whose 
busy  and  well-paid  medical  men  new  ideas  were  irksome,  and 
any  forward  step  in  the  care  of  their  patients  or  the  guidance 
of  public  opinion  was  a  kind  of  reproach  to  their  imbibed  com- 
placency of  attained  perfection.  It  was  the  familiar  story  of 
goodness  going  to  seed  and  planting  the  surrounding  fields 
with  a  growth  which  was  not  goodness,  or  at  least  was  a  de- 
generate and  reverting  form  thereof, —  a  fact  familiar  to  poets. 
Wordsworth  saw  at  his  university  — 

Honor  misplaced,  and  Dignity  astray; 
Feuds,  factions,  flatteries,  enmity,  and  guile, 
The  idol  weak  as  the  idolater ; 
And  Decency  and  Custom  starving  Truth, 
And  blind  Authority  beating  with  his  staff 
The  child  that  might  have  led  him  ;  Emptiness 
Followed  as  of  good  omen,  and  meek  Worth 
Left  to  herself,  unheard  of  and  unknown. 

Miss  Dix  had  done  her  work.  The  fame  of  it  remained  and 
will  not  be  forgotten.  It  was,  however,  a  work  for  a  time  of 
ignorance  and  developing  civilization,  and  by  no  means  a  per- 
manent model  for  all  coming  time.  This  fact  she  hardly  recog- 
nized, nor  was  it  natural  she  should.  Like  all  strong  natures 
of  her  type,  she  saw  what  she  was  appointed  to  see,  wrought 
her  task  therein  with  zeal  and  swift  accomplishment,  but  she 
saw  little  beyond.  Nor  could  she  well  understand  that  saying 
of  Wordsworth's  successor, — 

The  old  order  changeth,  yielding  place  to  new, 

And  God  fulfils  himself  in  many  ways, 

Lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt  the  world. 


i844  307 

In  her  own  chosen  sphere,  however,  at  the  time  of  her 
activity,  she  had  the  range  and  the  success  of  Peter  the  Hermit 
in  preaching  his  crusade;  and  she  might  go  by  the  name  of 
Dorothy  the  Hermitess,  so  retired  was  her  private  life  (often 
that  of  a  suffering  invalid)  and  so  brilliant  her  public  successes. 
Her  achievement  in  drawing  ^50,000  from  the  bank  account  of 
Cyrus  Butler,  of  Providence  (equivalent  to  half  a  million  in 
these  days  of  trooping  and  syndicated  millionaires),  more  than 
half  a  century  ago,  has  been  narrated  by  her  lively  biographer, 
Mr.  Tiffany.  But  there  are  some  circumstances  of  the  inter- 
view which  he  does  not  relate,  and  which,  perhaps,  are  doubtful 
in  their  accuracy,  though  certainly  be7i  trovate  when  the  two 
personages  are  recalled.  There  was  a  small  asylum  for  the  in- 
sane in  Rhode  Island ;  but,  as  usual  then  and  not  unknown 
now,  the  poor,  who  need  the  most  care,  got  the  least  there. 
Miss  Dix  entered  the  field,  provided  herself  with  the  startling 
facts  of  number  and  neglect,  and  then  inquired  who,  in  the  city 
of  Roger  WiUiams  and  Francis  Wayland,  might  give  the  need- 
ful money.  Several  names  were  shown  her,  among  them  Mr. 
Butler's,  a  bachelor,  a  rich  man,  but  not  till  then  suspected  of 
much  munificence.  Accompanied  to  his  door  by  her  friend,  the 
Unitarian  minister,  but  without  an  introduction,  she  entered,  and 
found  an  elderly  man  and  a  silent  clerk  within  the  office.  In- 
quiring for  Mr,  Butler,  the  clerk  pointed  to  the  old  gentle- 
man, who  wheeled  round,  looked  at  her,  and  asked  what  she 
wanted.  "If  not  intruding,  I  wish  to  make  a  statement  to  you 
that  will  hurt  no  one,  but  give  you  the  opportunity  of  a  monu- 
ment to  your  name  as  a  benefactor  of  the  poor  which  will  never 
be  forgotten."  "  Be  brief,  and  tell  me  what  this  means,"  was 
the  ungracious  reply.  "  Briefly,  then,  I  have  learned  that  the 
poor  insane  of  your  town  are  without  a  suitable  hospital ;  and 
I  am  looking  for  a  citizen  who  has  both  the  means  and  the 
liberality  to  start  a  movement  which  cannot  fail  to  succeed." 
"Are  you  Miss  Dix.?  If  so,  sit  down."  She  took  a  chair;  and, 
before  she  left  her  auditor,  she  had  given  him  the  facts  of  the 
situation,  not  without  an  appeal  to  that  rigid  New  England 
conscience  which  was  her  own  impelling  force.  "  What  do 
you  wish  me  to  do  }  "     "  To  subscribe  ^50,000  for  the  enlarge- 


3o8  MISS    DIX    AND    DR.   EARLE 

ment  of  your  insane  asylum,  and  let  it  be  called  henceforth  the 
'  Butler  Hospital.'  "  He  turned  to  his  check-book,  wrote  a  draft 
for  the  sum  asked,  and  Miss  Dix  went  forth  the  marvel  of 
Rhode  Island,  which  had  always  been  hearing  how  Moses 
smote  the  rock,  and  the  Israelites  drank  the  gushing  stream,  but 
had  never  seen  the  miracle  wrought. 

Miss  Dix  was  among  the  constant  correspondents  of  Dr. 
Earle ;  and  he  was  one  of  the  few  persons  from  whom  she  took 
pleasure  in  receiving  instruction  rather  than  imparting  it,  when 
the  care  of  the  insane  was  involved.  And  with  reason :  for  he 
had  studied  the  subject  in  many  lands,  and  had  practised  the 
art  before  a  kind  of  accident  brought  the  sufferings  of  the  in- 
sane to  her  notice,  and  engaged  her  sympathetic  heart  in  their 
behalf.  They  did  not  agree  in  opinion  always,  for  Dr.  Earle 
was  conscious  of  defects  in  his  professional  brethren  which 
Miss  Dix  was  not  quick  to  perceive  in  her  friends  ;  but  she 
recognized  his  devotion  to  the  cause  she  had  taken  up,  and  it 
was  ever  a  pleasure  for  her  to  see  the  ease  and  quiet  command 
with  which  he  moved  among  her  friends,  the  patients.  It  was 
apparently  a  real  disappointment  to  her,  though  a  pleasant  one, 
when  she  reached  Constantinople  in  1856,  and  found  that  Dr. 
Earle's  Timar-han6,  that  place  of  torment  in  1838,  had  been 
replaced  by  a  well-kept  Turkish  asylum.  She  was  fresh  from 
her  victory  over  neglect  and  ill-timed  levity  in  the  high  officials 
of  Scotland,  where,  by  her  own  activity  and  pathetic  elo- 
quence, she  had  secured  the  appointment  of  a  royal  commis- 
sion, out  of  which  grew  in  time  the  admirable  lunacy  system 
of  Scotland,  in  some  points  the  best  in  the  world  ;  and  she 
would  have  rejoiced  in  a  trial  of  strength  with  the  Sultan.  But 
all  had  changed  since  Dr.  Earle's  visit.  A  young  Turk  of  in- 
fluence had  been  a  student  in  Paris,  like  Dr.  Earle.  Like  him, 
he  had  visited  a  good  French  asylum.  Then  he  returned  to 
Constantinople,  and  introduced  the  French  methods  of  care, 
themselves  much  improved  since  the  douche  period.  Miss  Dix 
went  to  Suleiman's  Mosque  and  Hospital,  and  was  delighted. 
"The  insane  of  Constantinople  are  in  far  better  condition  than 
those  of  Rome  or  Trieste,  and  in  some  respects  better  cared 
for   than  in  Turin,  Milan,  or   Ancona.      The   superintendent 


I875-I879  309 

proposes  further  improvements,     I  had  little  to  suggest  and 
nothing  to  urge." 

The  sphere  of  the  two  friends  was  very  different :  hers  was 
a  public  career,  influencing  the  powerful  in  behalf  of  the  helpless  ; 
his,  though  public  in  its  result,  was  among  the  helpless  them- 
selves. And  it  was  by  his  perception  of  their  specific  needs,  not 
their  general  condition  of  neglect,  that  he  was  able  to  improve 
that  condition.  He  dealt  in  details  and  particulars,  in  figures 
of  arithmetic  rather  than  figures  of  speech  ;  and  he  saw  with 
clear  foresight  the  evils  that  may  come  from  beneficence  itself. 
Miss  Dix  in  later  life  became  aware  of  these,  in  some  measure, 
and  intimated  what  the  remedy  might  be.  She  objected,  like 
Dr.  Earle,  to  extravagant  outlay  ;  and,  after  her  experience  in 
army  nursing  during  the  Civil  War,  she  began  to  perceive  the 
need  of  training  attendants  for  the  insane,  to  which  some  medical 
superintendents  are  yet  blind.  In  October,  1875,  she  wrote  to 
Dr.  Earle  after  a  brief  visit  to  Northampton  :  — 

Regretting  only  that  no  opportunity  occurred  for  full  conversation 
upon  some  questions  of  wide  concern  to  hospitals  for  the  insane,  now 
very  numerous  and  popular  institutions,  I  suppose  the  knowledge 
and  direct  influence  of  successful  and  long-experienced  practitioners 
was  never  of  more  real  consequence  as  "  helping  means  "  to  those 
whose  connection  with  institutions  is  but  recent,  and  whose  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Protean  phases  of  insanity  is  deficient  both  by  study 
and  observation.  I  have  been  sorry  to  hear  much  complaint  of  hall 
attendants,  by  outside  parties,  much  more  than  in  ordinary  seasons. 
.  .  .  When  less  money  is  extravagantly  consumed  in  new  and  spacious 
buildings,  there  will  be  fuller  ability  for  employing  a  more  numerous, 
and  perhaps  more  informed  and  trained,  force  of  nurses  and  attend- 
ants than  are  in  service  at  present. 

This  was  written  in  the  heyday  of  that  outrageous  expendi- 
ture in  hospital  building  of  which  two  new  structures  in  Massa- 
chusetts were  then  instant  examples,  and  against  which,  as  was 
seen,  Dr.  Earle  was  roused  to  protest.  He  did  so  with  much 
effect  at  the  Chicago  Conference  of  Charities  in  1879;  and,  in 
the  widely  circulated  address  made  by  him  there,  he  paid  his 


3IO  HOSPITAL-BUILDING    AND    MANAGEMENT 

brief,  emphatic  tribute  to  his  more  prominent  friend,  then 
seventy-seven  years  old,  saying :  — 

In  1841  Miss  Dix  began  that  long  and  laborious  career  of  phil- 
anthropic devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  insane  with  which  her  name 
is  indissolubly  connected,  and  to  which  the  annals  of  all  history 
furnish  no  parallel.  To  Dr.  Woodward  and  Miss  Dix,  more  than  to 
any  other  two  persons,  are  the  insane  of  our  country  indebted  for  the 
awakened  interest  of  the  people  in  their  behalf,  and,  consequently,  for 
that  rapidity  of  practical  action  manifested  in  the  erection  of  asylums 
and  hospitals  for  their  benefit,  which  has  in  no  other  country  been 
exceeded,  even  if  it  has  been  equalled. 

Retiring  from  his  hospital  in  1885  (October  i),  the  trustees 
recorded  their  estimate  of  Dr.  Earle's  worth  in  the  vote  already 
printed  in  the  previous  chapter.  It  fell  to  me,  as  an  editor  of 
the  Springfield  Repiiblican  (the  local  newspaper  of  that  section 
of  New  England),  to  speak  of  him  then  ;  and  some  passages  of 
the  article  may  here  be  cited  :  — 

Perhaps  no  hospital  superintendent  ever  attended  more  system- 
atically to  all  the  details  of  his  work  or  carried  them  more  completely 
in  his  mind,  while  at  the  same  time  he  knew  how  to  throw  upon 
others  the  work  that  properly  belonged  to  them.  His  discipline  has 
been  strict  and  exacting,  particularly  in  regard  to  industry  and 
frugality ;  while  the  condition  of  most  of  his  patients  and  the  location 
of  his  hospital  have  denied  to  him  those  brilliant  results  which  are 
oftener  claimed  than  attained  in  this  specialty.  He  has  cared  little 
for  show  or  for  fame,  but  has  done  his  daily  duty  with  accurate 
fidelity. 

As  ever  in  his  great  Taskmaster's  eye. 

His  reward  has  come  in  the  gradual  recognition  of  his  services  by 
many  who  were  once  slow  to  admit  them,  and  still  slower  to  allow 
that  the  quiet  veteran,  in  his  old-fashioned  hospital  and  among  his 
dry  statistics,  was  the  real  head  of  his  profession  in  America.  Such 
has  been  the  fact,  however,  for  years ;  and  it  is  this  which  makes  Dr. 
Earle's  withdrawal  from  active  duty  an  event  of  more  than  local  con- 
sequence.    He  will  remain  a  citizen  of  Northampton,  and  will  there 


1878-1885  311 

prepare  for  final  publication  the  writings  on  which  he  has  long  been 
engaged. 

These  writings  were  the  Earle  Genealogy,  concerning  which 
some  curious  particulars  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  and  the 
final  edition  of  his  "Curability  of  Insanity."  Both  involved 
and  had  long  compelled  a  large  correspondence  and  frequent 
reference  to  the  special  library  he  had  collected  at  Northamp- 
ton, where,  by  invitation  of  the  authorities,  he  continued  to  live 
at  the  hospital.  This  library  enabled  him  to  bring  before  the 
Association  of  American  Medical  Superintendents  of  Institu- 
tions for  the  Insane  (of  which  he  was  president  in  his  last  year 
at  Northampton),  in  his  address  of  June  16,  1885,  a  mass  of 
facts  concerning  recoveries  and  curability  which  that  learned 
and  at  last  persuaded  body  had  never  before  considered.  And, 
as  many  of  its  members  had  chafed  at  Dr.  Earle's  frank 
censure  of  the  waste  of  public  money  in  building  the  Danvers 
Hospital,  he  felt  warranted  in  recurring  to  that  subject  in  this 
address,  which  he  soon  after  revised  for  publication.     He  said  : 

The  Danvers  Hospital  was  opened  for  the  reception  of  patients  on 
the  i8th  of  May,  1878.  It  is,  emphatically,  one  of  the  establish- 
ments upon  which  a  flood  of  money  has  been  poured  for  the 
purpose  of  creating  a  curative  institution  as  nearly  perfect  as  possi- 
ble, under  the  light  of  existing  knowledge.  If  abundance  of  pecun- 
iary means  in  construction,  together  with  what  was  believed  to  be 
the  highest  embodied  ideal  of  architectural  arrangements,  could 
cure  insanity  more  rapidly  than  a  less  costly  and  more  simple  struct- 
ure, that  hospital,  most  assuredly,  was  prepared  for  a  demonstration 
of  the  proposition.  It  was  evident  that  great  efforts  were  made  to 
arrive  at  such  a  demonstration,  and  thus  to  prove  that  the  curative 
advantages  of  the  institution  were  an  adequate  compensation  for  the 
excess  of  expenditure. 

I  may  observe  in  passing,  so  true  is  this  statement,  that, 
when  I  questioned  several  of  the  then  superintendents  of  the 
Massachusetts  State  Hospitals  (who  appeared  in  excuse  for  the 
outlay  at  an  investigation  by  the  legislature  of  1877,  which  I 
conducted),    they    gave    as   a   sufficient    reason    for   spending 


312  RECOVERIES    AT    DANVERS 

^1,500,000  where  $750,000  had  solemnly  been  declared  ample 
by  the  architect  that  the  excess  of  money  would  promote 
recoveries.  When  I  asked  them  to  point  out  exactly  how  it 
would  do  that,  they  took  refuge  in  generalities,  well  knowing,  I 
fear,  that  the  money  had  been  lavished  on  the  comfort  of  the 
officers  and  attendants  rather  than  for  the  cure  of  patients, 
and  more  in  ignorance  of  what  was  really  needed  than  with  any 
very  definite  aim  at  even  luxury  of  living.     Dr.  Earle  went  on : 

The  usual  custom  of  a  large  transfer  of  incurable  cases  from  older 
hospitals  and  asylums  was  omitted  at  Danvers,  and  the  supply  of 
patients  was  derived  chiefly  from  current  commitments.  By  this 
means  the  proportion  of  recent  cases  was  much  higher  than  usual 
from  the  first ;  and,  as  Boston  and  five  other  large  centres  of  popula- 
tion (which  usually  furnish  a  larger  ratio  of  recent  cases  than  the 
rural  districts)  are  within  a  short  distance  from  Danvers,  that  pro- 
portion was  raised  still  higher.  And  now  for  the  results.  In  course 
of  the  first  five  fiscal  years,  out  of  more  than  2,500  cases  admitted, 
554  cases  were  discharged  recovered;  but  115  persons,  who  had 
recovered  a  total  of  121  times,  had  returned  to  the  hospital.  So 
that  the  net  recoveries  were  but  433,  or  less  than  17  per  cent,  of  the 
admissions.  Within  the  three  years  ending  Sept.  30,  1884,  the  re- 
coveries were  but  265  ;  while  80  persons,  representing  86  recoveries, 
were  readmitted.  So  that  the  actual  recoveries  were  but  179,  only 
11.70  per  cent,  of  the  admissions  during  the  three  years. 

Here  was  the  dilemma  of  the  extravagant  hospital  builders 
coolly  stated  in  a  way  from  which  there  was  no  escape.  They 
had  said  the  outlay  at  Danvers  and  similar  places  must  pro- 
mote recovery.  This  was  either  true  or  false.  If  true,  why 
had  not  the  cures  occurred  ?  If  false,  why  had  the  statement 
been  made .-'  Dr.  Earle  believed  it  was  made  in  careless  igno- 
rance, because  the  statistics  of  American  asylums  had  not  been 
so  reported  as  to  convey  the  truth.  In  1879  he  had  revised, 
and  I  had  introduced  in  Massachusetts,  such  forms  of  statisti- 
cal report  as  brought  the  true  facts  to  light.  In  this  way  the 
failure  at  Danvers  to  come  up  to  the  promise  of  the  builders 
was  clearly  revealed.  And,  in  closing  his  final  address  to  his 
colleagues,  Dr.  Earle  said:  — 


1879-1885  313 

I  would  express  the  hope  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  our 
Association  will  so  far  perfect  its  statistical  system  as  to  make  a  dis- 
tinction between  persons  and  cases,  and  thus  enable  the  reader  to 
learn  how  many  of  the  reported  recoveries  are  first  recoveries,  and 
how  many  are  subsequent.  This  improvement  was  made  in  the 
Massachusetts  tables  in  1879,  and  in  those  of  the  British  Medico- 
Psychological  Association  in  1883.  Surely,  the  American  Associa- 
tion ought  not  to  lag  far  behind.* 

Valuable  as  statistical  exactness  is,  recoveries  are  not 
secured  thereby,  but  by  close  observation,  personal  care,  and 
the  wise  use  of  moral  and  medical  means.  Nor  is  it  always 
possible  to  indicate  the  means  or  cause  of  recovery.  When 
Dr.  Earle  and  I  were  arranging  the  form  of  the  Massachusetts 
tables  just  mentioned,  we  provided  for  one  showing  the  cause 
of  death  in  asylum  patients.  This  was  retained  and  is  still  in 
use ;  but  another  form,  providing  for  a  report  by  the  physi- 
cians on  "  Cause  of  Recovery "  in  patients  recovered,  was 
stricken  out  at  the  request  of  the  asylum  physicians.  As  I 
remember  the  incident,  Dr.  Earle  said  concerning  that  table, 
"  If  you  can  get  the  cause  truthfully  stated,  it  will  be  of  much 
value ;  but  it  will  be  exceptional  that  the  true  cause  will  be 
known,  or,  if  known,  truly  stated."  He  allowed  it  to  pass, 
however,  and  was  ready  to  make  such  reports  himself;  but  his 
foresight  proved  exact,  and  the  form  was  set  aside.  His 
friends  were  perhaps  inclined  to  claim  more  for  him  in  the 
matter  of  recoveries  under  his  care  than  he  would  have  allowed 
for  himself.  His  cousin,  Mrs.  Spring,  in  a  letter  from  Los 
Angeles  in  the  summer  of  1897,  made  these  statements,  quite 
new  to  me,  concerning  the  first  motive  for  his  choice  of  the 
alienist's  specialty,  and  his  early  success  in  treatment :  — 

My  kinsman,  Pliny  Earle,  was  one  of  many  children ;  and  I  think 
of  them  in  their  orderly  Quaker  home,  with  their  wonderful  mother 
and  noble  father,  as  one  of  the  most  intellectual  families  I  have  ever 
known.  They  had  a  very  dear,  beautiful,  brilliant  cousin, —  so 
lovely  and  charming  that  mothers  said  to  their  daughters,  "  Be  like 

*  Yet  this  simple  change  has  not  yet  been  generally  made  in  the  United  States. 


314  MRS.    SPRINGS    RECOLLECTIONS 

Mary  Earle."  From  a  terrible  illness  she  recovered,  all  but  the 
brain,  and,  after  many  years,  died  a  wretched  death  in  an  insane 
asylum.  This  called  Pliny's  attention  to  such  sufferers,  and  so  he 
devoted  his  life  to  their  cure  or  alleviation.  Dr.  Brown-Sequard 
once  said  to  me,  "  He  is  the  only  one  of  us  who  does  cure  them." 
Dr.  Earle  had  a  remarkable  power  of  organization,  of  peaceful  influ- 
ence and  enduring  patience.  He  was  prepared  for  any  emergency, 
knew  the  tendencies  of  each  patient,  and  kept  untiring,  vigilant 
watch  of  them  all.  I  remember  in  one  of  the  dancing  evenings 
at  Bloomingdale,  when  Margaret  Fuller,  William  Henry  Channing, 
Marcus  Spring,  and  I  were  present,  one  of  the  patients  darted  out 
of  the  dance,  and,  putting  up  her  hand  on  Dr.  Earle's  shoulder,  said, 
"  Thou  model  of  a  man  I  "  and  then  took  her  place  again.  Long 
afterwards  I  went  there  alone,  and  for  weeks  watched  his  treatment 
of  those  unfortunates, —  not  as  a  mass,  but  as  individuals.  Before 
he  took  charge,  they  had  been  subjects  of  amusement  for  visitors 
[the  thing  Miss  Dix  had  censured  at  Northampton  before  he  took 
charge],  but  Dr.  Earle  never  allowed  them  to  be  intruded  upon.  I 
was  told  in  New  York  that  his  testimony  was  the  first  legal  evidence 
where  insanity  was  claimed  or  suspected,  and  I  knew  a  case  where 
his  evidence  saved  a  man's  life.  It  was  he  who  settled  the  difficult 
Parish  Will  case. 

Mrs.  Spring  adds,  "A  disappointment  in  early  life  turned 
his  interest  still  more  upon  the  life  he  had  chosen."  At  all 
events,  he  gave  to  it  his  most  sacred  thought,  and  expended  in 
hospitals  artd  asylums  the  gayety  of  his  nature,  in  all  forms  of 
entertainment,  as  well  as  his  serious  studies  and  his  incessant 
care.  Then,  at  the  unmistakable  summons  of  age,  he  prudently 
withdrew  from  his  responsible  position,  attended  to  those  per- 
sons and  affairs  that  had  claims  on  his  consideration,  desig- 
nated his  biographer,  and  gave  him  both  needful  explanations 
and  ample  discretion  for  editing  or  omitting,  and  calmly  pre- 
pared for  the  last  scenes.  He  distributed  his  printed  works  to 
friends  and  to  libraries,  made  provision  for  the  perpetuation 
of  his  memory  at  Northampton,  which  he  had  come  to  love  as 
a  home,  by  generous  bequests  to  the  local  library  of  broadest 
scope  and  most  liberal  management,  erected  his  own  funeral 
monument  there,  and  took    care,  in  perpetuity,  for  the  plain 


IS92  315 

tombstones  of  ancestors  and  kindred  at  Leicester.  He  forgave 
his  enemies  (if  any  such  remained),  said  farewell  to  kinsmen 
and  dear  friends,  and  awaited  the  inevitable  hour  with  quiet 
trust  in  the  good  Power  that  had  guided  his  way  of  more 
than  fourscore  years,  with  outward  and  inward  illumination. 
He  died,  after  a  short  illness,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1892. 

Pliny  Earle,  as  these  pages  have  disclosed,  however  faintly, 
was  a  personage  as  marked  as  his  name  was  unusual.  Along 
with  strong  family  traits,  he  yet  had  an  individuality  which 
gave  him  distinction,  from  childhood  to  old  age,  and  could  not 
be  defined  or  limited  by  his  social,  religious,  or  national  environ- 
ment. "To  define,"  said  our  friend  Alcott,  "is  to  confine"; 
but  no  such  imprisonment  fell  to  the  lot  of  Dr.  Earle.  Of  sin- 
gular personal  beauty  (which  the  portraits  here  engraved  but 
partly  recall),  and  with  a  grace  of  manner  that  was  but  the 
native  expression  of  the  kindliest  heart,  he  attracted  notice 
wherever  he  might  go,  and  awakened  expectation  which  his 
success  in  life,  for  some  years,  did  not  seem  to  justify.  He 
won  no  high  name  in  literature,  was  neither  a  brilliant  orator 
nor  a  noted  man  of  science,  secured  few  of  those  glittering 
prizes  which  even  his  modesty  would  have  valued,  and  held  no 
position  of  wide  command  or  conspicuous  influence.  In  all 
this  he  shared  the  common  lot,  which  awards  even  tempo- 
rary distinction  to  but  few,  and  that  for  the  most  varied 
reasons,  compelling  praise  or  blame.  But  he  slowly  rose  above 
most  of  his  contemporaries  in  the  zeal  and  perseverance  with 
which  he  sought  the  good  of  mankind ;  and  in  a  profession  in- 
trinsically noble,  where  he  found  errors  abundant,  ideas  few, 
and  a  level  of  mediocrity  veiled,  but  not  concealed,  from  keen 
observers  like  himself,  by  vague  rhetoric  and  complacent  rou- 
tine. To  this  he  opposed  the  singleness  of  purpose  and  sim- 
plicity of  character  which  belonged  by  nature  to  his  race  and 
name.  He  was  favored  by  long  life  and  providential  opportuni- 
ties ;  and  thus  the  features  of  his  intellectual  and  moral 
nature  became  better  known,  and  had  their  foreordained  effect. 
Few  men,  perhaps  none  in  America,  have  done  more  to  clear 
the  way  for  the  best  treatment  of  the  classes  to  whom  he  con- 
secrated his  powers,  or  have  been  of  better  example  to  the 
future  man  of  science  or  the  philanthropist. 


APPENDIX. 


I.     The  Publications  of  Dr.  Earle. 

Leaving  out  of  view  the  young  scholar  and  poet's  contributions  to 
the  Worcester  Talisman,  Spy,  and  other  local  periodicals,  some  of 
which  he  gathered  into  his  Philadelphia  volume  of  1841,  "Marathon, 
and  Other  Poems,"  the  following  is  believed  to  be  the  fullest  list  of 
his  acknowledged  writings  that  has  appeared  in  print :  — 

Books  and  Papers. 

(I.)  (1841)  A  Visit  to  Thirteen  Asyhims  for  the  Insane  in  Europe. 
(Philadelphia:  J.  Dobson.  pp.  144.)  This  had  before  appeared  in 
the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Scietices  for  October,  1839 
(Vol.  XXV.,  pp.  99-134).  It  was  reprinted  later,  with  many  changes 
and  additions.  However,  many  of  the  original  errors,  arising  from 
imperfect  observation  or  dependence  on  untrustworthy  authority, 
remained  in  the  reprint.  For  example,  the  account  of  the  traditional 
origin  of  the  "  Community  Asylum  at  Gheel,"  as  he  called  the  famous 
colony  at  that  Belgian  town,  is  wholly  incorrect,  and  the  statistics  much 
in  arrears,  coming  down  no  later  than  1821.  Dr.  Earle  placed  in  the 
hands  of  his  biographer  a  corrected  copy  of  this  reprint.  An  extract 
or  two  will  be  given  from  this,  to  show  his  earlier  style.  The  visits 
describe  conditions  extending  from  July,  1837,  to  January,  1839. 

(II.)  (1848)  History,  Description,  and  Statistics  of  the  Bloofningdale  Asy- 
lum for  the  Insane.  (New  York:  Egbert,  Hovey  &  King.  pp.  136.) 
To  this  was  added,  for  completion, — 

(III.)  (1848)  Four  Attnual  Reports  of  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum  for  the 
Insane.  (1845,  1846,  1847,  1848,  all  for  the  years  preceding  their 
date.  pp.  55,  48,  32,  28;  in  all,  163.)  Up  to  their  date,  these  two 
volumes  contained  the  fullest  account  of  the  operation  and  results  of 
an  American  asylum  which  had  ever  been  published  ;  and  the  presenta- 
tion of  its  statistics  in  new  forms,  after  much  labor  in  tabulation,  made 
it  the  first  essay  in  the  reformation  of  statistics  of  insanity  in  America. 

(IV.)  (1853)  Institutions  for  the  Insane  in  Prussia,  Austria,  and  Ger- 
many.    (Utica  :  New  York  Asylum,  Printers,     pp.  229.)     These  visits 


3l8  PUBLICATIONS    OF    DR.    EARLE 

were  all  made  in  the  year  1849,  with  many  others  upon  which  Dr. 
Earle  did  not  report,  but  which  served  to  correct  former  impressions, 
and  to  make  his  comments  on  the  annual  reports  of  European  asylums 
of  great  value.  To  his  volume  Dr.  Earle  added  a  supplement  of  six- 
teen pages,  containing  information  furnished  by  Laehr  in  1852,  and  a 
list  of  German  asylums  at  that  date,  tabulated  by  Dr.  Earle,  which,  as 
containing  information  curious  in  itself,  and  nowhere  else  accessible  in 
English,  is  reprinted  in  this  Appendix.  The  mere  political  changes 
made  in  the  past  half-century,  largely  by  the  genius  and  energy  of 
Bismarck,  give  these  minute  divisions  of  German-speaking  Europe 
curious  interest.  The  first  form  of  the  volume  was  published  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Insanity,  then  printed  at  the  Utica  Asylum, 
where  Dr.  Brigham  had  begun  it.  I  have  made  use  of  a  corrected 
copy  of  the  volume  of  1853,  put  in  my  hands  by  Dr.  Earle. 

(V.)  (1853)  E7C7-opean  Institutions  for  Idiots.  (New  York:  William  Saun- 
derson.  Printer,     pp.  22.) 

(VI.)  (1854)  The  Practice  of  Blood-letting  in  Mejital  Disorders.  (New 
York:   S.  S.  &  William  Wood.     pp.  126.) 

(VII.)     (1857)  Medical  Opinion  in  the  Parish  Will  Case.     (pp.  50.) 

(VIII.)  (1862)  Chapter  on  Insanity  in  United  States  Census:  Quarto 
Volume  for  i860.     (Printed  by  the  Government  Printers.) 

(IX.)  (1864-85)  Reports  of  the  State  Ltmatic  Hospital  at  Northampton, 
Mass.  (Printed  by  the  State  Printers  at  Boston.  Pp.  nearly  2,000  in 
all.) 

(X.)  (1877)  The  Curability  of  Insanity.  (First  form  of  this  work  in  a 
pamphlet  issued  by  the  New  England  Psychological  Society.    Boston.) 

(XI.)  (1879)  The  Matiageme7it  of  the  Insane  in  the  Atnerican  States. 
(Proceedings  of  the  Sixth  Annual  Conference  of  Charities  at  Chicago, 
June,  1879,  pp.  42-59.)     (Boston:  A.  Williams  &  Co.) 

(XII.)  (1887)  The  Curability  of  Insanity :  A  Series  of  Studies.  (Phila- 
delphia: J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,     pp.  232.) 

(XIII.)  (1888)  77!!^  Earle  Family:  Ralph  Earle  and  his  Descendants. 
(Compiled  by  Pliny  Earle,  of  Northampton,  Mass.  Printed  for  the 
Family.)  (Worcester,  Mass. :  Press  of  Charles  Hamilton,  pp.  xxiv, 
480.)  This  may  be  considered  Dr.  Earle's  magnutn  opus,  since  it 
occupied  him,  at  intervals,  for  half  a  century,  and  involved  an  expendi- 
ture on  his  part  of  some  thousands  of  dollars.  It  is  a  masterly  work, 
of  incredible  labor  almost,  and  yet  deals  with  only  one  of  the  eight  or 
ten  families  in  America  named  Earl,  Earll,  or  Earle.  It  contains  more 
than  4,000  names  of  the  cousins,  near  or  remote,  of  Dr.  Earle,  and  yet 
omits  more  than  1,000  as  not  coming  within  the  scope  of  the  book. 
In  connection  with  what  the  volume  tells  of  the  artistic  branch  of  the 
Leicester  Earles,  this  Appendix  will  contain  something  about  the  two 


1838-1892  3^9 

Ralphs,  James  and  Augustus  Earle,  who  were  the  art-contingent,  and 
were  divided  between  New  and  Old  England  in  the  political  separation 
of  the  two  countries;  James  being  the  husband  and  Augustus  the  son 
of  a  Tory  mother,  though  the  grandson  of  a  patriot  soldier  of  the  Rev- 
olution. Ralph  drew  the  first  sketches  of  the  early  fights  at  Concord 
and  Lexington.  An  uncle  of  the  last  English  artist  of  the  family 
married  into  the  family  of  General  Jackson,  the  hero  of  New  Orleans, 
and  painted  his  great  kinsman's  portrait ;  his  nephew  was  sailing  the 
Mediteranean  with  Admiral  Smyth  or  acting  as  draughtsman  to  the 
"  Beagle,"  in  which  Darwin  made  his  grand  voyage  round  the  world. 
(XIV.)  (1838-92)  An  incomplete  list  of  Dr.  Earle's  contributions  to  Reviews, 
Annuals,  Dictionaries,  etc.,  follows :  — 

1838.  Insanity :  Its  Catcses,  Duration,  TertninatioJi,  and  Moral  Treat- 
ment.    (Part  of  his  Medical  Thesis  of  1837.) 

1840.      The  Clitnate,  Population,  Diseases,  etc.,  of  Malta. 

1840.  Medical  Institutions,  Diseases,  etc.,  at  Athens  and  Constantinople. 

1 84 1.  The  Royal  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  London. 
1842-45.     Observations  on  the  Rapidity  of  the  Pulse  of  the  Insafie. 
1843.      The  Curability  of  Insanity.     (First  paper.) 

1845.      ^^^^  Inability  to  distinguish  Colors. 

1845.     Experiments  with  Conium  fnactdatum. 

1847.      Cases  of  Paralysis  Peculiar  to  the  Insane. 

1849-57.     Cases  of  Partio-General  Paralysis,  or  Paralysis  of  the  Insane. 

1840-42.  Reviews  of  Sir  William  Ellis,  of  Dr.  F.  Leuret,  of  the  Statis- 
tics of  the  York  Retreat,  of  Eleven  Hospitals. 

1843-44.  Reviews  of  Reports  of  Twenty-five  American  Hospitals,  of 
the  Retreat  near  Leeds,  and  the  Bridewell  and  Bethlehem  Hospitals 
in  England. 

1845.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Twenty  American  Hospitals  and  Eight 
English  Hospitals. 

1846.  Indian  Hemp  and  Mental  Alienation.     (Review  of  J.  Moreau.) 

1846.  Reviews  of  Reports  of  English  Lunacy  Commission  and  of 
Fifteen  American  Hospitals. 

1844-47.  The  Poetry  of  Insayiity,  Contributions  to  the  Pathology  of  In- 
sanity, Cases  and  a  Leaffro7n  the  Annals  of  Insanity. 

1847.  Reviews  of  Reports  of  Nineteen  American  Hospitals. 

1848.  Reviews  of  Reports  of  Eighteen  American  Hospitals. 

185 1.  The  hisane  at  Gheel. 

1852.  The  Lunatic  Hospital  at  Havana. 

1849-52.     Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Twenty-six  American  Hospitals. 
1853-55.     Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Forty  American  Hospitals. 
1856.     Reviews  and  Report  of  Twenty-three  American  Hospitals. 
1856.     Itisa7iity  and  Idiocy  in  Massachusetts. 


320  PUBLICATIONS    OF    DR.    EARLE 

1 85 7.  New  Afnerica/i  Bistitutiotis  for  the  Itisajie. 

1S57.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Twenty-five  American  Hospitals. 

1858.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Twenty-eight  American  Hospitals. 

1859.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Thirty-four  American  Hospitals. 
i860.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Thirty-three  American  Hospitals. 

1 86 1.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Fifteen  American  Hospitals. 

1862.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Thirty-six  American  Hospitals. 

1863.  Hospitals  in  British  Afnerica. 

1863.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Ten  American  Hospitals. 

1864.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Thirty-nine  American  Hospitals. 

1865.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Thirty-six  American  Hospitals. 

1 866.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Thirty-five  American  Hospitals. 

1867.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Thirty-three  American  Hospitals. 
1867.  History  atid  Description  of  the  NorthamptOTi  Luttatic  Hospital. 

1867.  Psycopathic  Hospital  of  the  Future. 

1868.  Psychologic  Medicine  iti  the  Medical  Curriculum. 
1868.     Prospective  Provision  for  the  Insane. 

1868.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Twenty  American  Hospitals. 

1869.  Reviews  of  the  Reports  of  Fifteen  American  Hospitals.* 

In  addition  to  these  articles,  Dr.  Earle  published  in  1846  a  review 
of  "  Esquirol  on  Mental  Diseases,"  in  a  New  York  periodical;  a 
"  History  of  Insane  Hospitals  in  the  United  States,"  the  first  paper 
read  before  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine,  and  published  in  its 
records  ;  in  1863  an  article  in  the  American  Almanac  on  "  Insanity  "  ; 
in  1 88 1  an  article  on  the  "Curability  of  the  Insane  "  in  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  Conference  of  Charities ;  and  in  1892  a  long  article  on  the 
same  subject  in  Dr.  D.  H.  Tuke's  "Dictionary  of  Psychological 
Medicine,"  published  in  London  two  months  after  Dr.  Earle's  death. 
In  the  fournal  of  Social  Science  he  published  in  1890  his  paper  on 
"  Popular  Fallacies  concerning  the  Insane."  In  his  early  days  he 
had  written  copiously  for  the  literary  and  daily  journals,  and  con- 
tributed, in  1837,  1838,  1839,  many  letters  to  the  Worcester  Spy, 
describing  his  journeys  about  Europe. 

A  paper  on  Color  Blindness,  exhibiting  what  may  be  called  Dr. 
Earle's  middle  style,  when  writing  for  the  people  rather  than  for 
physicians,  appears  in  this  Appendix  ;  and,  to  show  his  latest  style 
and  condensed  form  of  statement,  the  Social  Science  paper  on  "Pop- 
ular Fallacies  concerning  the  Insane  "  and  his  contribution  to  Dr. 
Tuke's  "  Dictionary  of  Psychological  Medicine  "  are  reprinted. 

*  See  also  Dr.  Earle's  later  "  Reminiscences"  in  this  Appendix.  It  is  difficult  to  be  sure  that  all 
he  so  copiously  wrote  is  catalogued,  and  his  manuscripts  are  not  here  noticed. 


i837  321 


II.     Selections  from  "Thirteen  Visits." 

An  English  Asylum. 

The  number  of  patients  in  the  Wakefield  Pauper  Asylum  at  the 
time  of  my  visit,  in  the  summer  of  1837,  was  334,  of  whom  a  small 
minority  were  women.  Fifty  or  sixty  of  the  men  labor,  regularly, 
either  in  the  manufacture  of  the  articles  above  mentioned,  in  garden- 
ing, or  in  some  mechanical  trade.  All  the  utensils  used  by  the 
patients  at  their  meals,  unless  necessarily  metallic,  are  made  of 
wood.  The  working  patients  are  furnished,  besides  their  regular 
meals,  with  two  "  drinkings  "  during  the  day,  each  of  them  consisting 
of  three-fourths  of  a  pint  of  beer  and  four  ounces  of  bread.  Nearly 
two  hundred  dollars  per  annum  is  paid  for  tobacco,  which  is  also 
divided  among  the  laborers,  each  being  entitled  to  a  weekly  ration 
of  one  ounce.  Many  of  the  patients,  as  we  passed  through  the 
wards,  begged  for  tobacco,  or  for  money  to  purchase  it  with.  One 
of  them,  after  having  thus  played  the  mendicant,  put  into  my  hands 
a  piece  of  cloth,  upon  one  side  of  which  he  had  written,  in  large 
letters,  ^^Millen?imm.  Green,  blue,  and yelloiu  united^  And  upon  the 
other,  "■Victoria  \st,  July  28,  1837.  Virgin  Queen  of  Peace.  Amen. 
Aquila.^^  It  will  be  perceived  from  the  date  that  this  was  but  a 
short  time  subsequent  to  the  accession  of  Victoria  to  the  throne  of 
Great  Britain.  The  universal  popularity  which  the  youthful  queen 
enjoyed  at  that  time  among  her  sane  subjects  thus  seems  to  have 
penetrated  the  walls  of  the  institutions  for  lunatics.  And  this  poor, 
infatuated  maniac  beheld  the  "  green,  blue,  and  yellow,"  the  insignia 
of  the  different  political  parties  of  the  realm,  united  through  her 
means,  and  hence  the  "consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished,"  the 
immediate  advent  of  the  millennium  !  "  Eh,  eh,"  said  he,  after  I  had 
read  the  above ;  and,  as  he  spoke,  he  looked  up  into  my  face  with  a 
piercing  glance  and  a  most  significant  smile,  "  do  you  know  what 
Aquila  signifies  in  English  ?  "  Being  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
"Well,  sir,"  he  continued,  "/am  the  Eagle";  and  he  placed  a  most 
emphatic  stress  upon  the  pronoun,  in  order  to  give  an  adequate  idea 
of  the  dignity  of  his  person. 

The  women  were  supping  when  we  went  through  their  department, 
each  eating  her  ration  from  a  small  wooden  dish,  similar  to  a  pail. 


32  2  ASYLUMS    IN    1 536 

That  air  of  neatness  and  comfort  which  reigns  throughout  the  estab- 
Ushment  is  particularly  conspicuous  in  the  section  for  the  females. 
One  of  the  women,  who  had  been  refractory,  had  her  arms  confined. 
I  had  previously  observed,  in  the  men's  department,  that  confine- 
ment by  straps,  in  chairs  and  beds,  is  also  resorted  to  in  cases  of 
violent  mania. 

"  Who  are  you  ? "  inquired  one  of  the  women  who  were  eating, 
after  having  scrutinized  me  with  the  wild  and  searching  gaze  of  a 
maniac.  "  Are  you  a  Methodist  minister  ?  "  "  No,"  said  I,  "  I  am  an 
Americajiy  This  answer  was  perfectly  satisfactory ;  and  no  sooner 
was  it  uttered  than  half  a  dozen  patients  suddenly  rose,  "  Oh,  you  are 
from    America :    then  you  know  my  brother,"  said  one.     "  Do  you 

know  J.  F.  ?  "  inquired  a  second.     "Have  you  ever  seen ?  " 

asked  a  third:  "he  is  my  husband's  brother."  "I  have  a  sister  in 
America,"  remarked  a  young  woman,  looking  up  with  a  smile  so 
gentle  and  an  expression  of  countenance  so  calm  and  subdued  that 
one  beheld  in  it  more  of  the  attractive  innocence  and  beauty  of  sane 
and  healthy  childhood  than  the  fierceness  and  wildness  of  confirmed 
lunacy. 

27ie  Utrecht  Asylum. 

The  building,  though  still  small,  has  been  enlarged  ;  the  courts 
have  been  planted  with  trees  and  flowers ;  and  at  the  time  of  my 
visit,  in  July,  1838,  their  size  was  being  much  increased  by  extend- 
ing their  limits  over  the  sites  of  some  ancient  buildings,  purchased 
by  the  "  Regents "  of  the  asylum,  and  demolished  by  their  order. 
The  building  is  shaped  like  the  letter  L.  The  room  of  the  superin- 
tendent is  in  the  angle,  in  the  second  stor}',  so  situated  that  he 
can  see  every  patient  who  is  out  of  doors.  The  wards  have  dor- 
mitories on  but  one  side,  the  remaining  space  being  a  gallery, 
which  is  used  as  a  place  of  promenade  in  bad  weather.  There  is  a 
common  sitting-room  for  each  class  of  the  inmates.  Their  number 
was  94,  that  of  the  two  sexes  being  about  equal.  They  are  divided 
into  three  classes:  those  of  the  first  class  pay  812  florins,  equal  to 
about  $125,  per  annum;  those  of  the  second,  412  florins,  or 
S65 ;  and  those  of  the  third,  100  and  150  florins.  The  third 
class  is  composed  of  paupers.  Those  who  pay  but  100  florins  are 
natives  of  Utrecht:  those  who  pay  150  come  from  other  places. 
The  rooms  of  the  first  class  are  furnished  handsomely,  but  not  with 


1838  323 

that  elegance  which  is  seen  in  those  of  the  similar  classes  in  some 
asylums. 

When  necessary,  the  camisole,  or  the  strait-jacket,  fetters,  the 
douche,  and  the  dungeon  are  put  in  requisition  as  means  of  restraint 
and  coercion.  The  stream  of  water  forming  the  douche  is  but  one- 
fourth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  while  those  of  Salpetriere  and  Bicetre, 
at  Paris,  are  about  seven-eighths  of  an  inch.  The  quantity  of  water 
flowing  from  the  latter  must,  consequently,  be  nearly  twelve  times  as 
great  as  from  the  former.  There  is  but  one  bathing-tub  in  the  es- 
tabUshment.  The  patients  resort  to  reading,  writing,  drawing,  music, 
cards,  billiards,  chequers,  or  draughts,  and  some  other  games,  for  en- 
tertainment and  amusement.  There  is  a  library  intended  for  their 
use.  The  billiard  table,  a  large  and  handsome  one,  was  made  by 
two  of  the  former  patients.  In  one  of  the  men's  rooms  several 
patients  were  occupied  in  drawing  and  reading ;  and,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  wildness  of  the  eye  and  the  characteristic  traits  of  counte- 
nance, which  cannot  be  mistaken,  in  one  or  two  others  who  were  pres- 
ent, I  could  hardly  have  believed  myself  to  be  in  a  mad-house.  Most 
of  the  men  in  the  first  class  were  in  the  court  devoted  to  their  use. 
Among  them  was  a  physician.  He  conversed  freely  upon  his  situa- 
tion, gave  an  account  of  his  commencement  of  practice,  and  the 
success  which  attended  his  efforts,  until  his  friends  thought  it  best 
for  him  to  take  lodgings  in  the  lunatic  asylum.  At  length  he  asked 
me  if  I  thought  him  deranged.  He  had  talked  so  rationally,  and  this 
question  was  put  so  directly  and  so  earnestly,  that  to  avoid  answer- 
ing it  was  almost  impossible.  An  evasive  reply,  if  any,  must  be  given. 
"  It  is  difficult  to  define  derangement,"  said  I ;  "  and,  if  we  should 
accept  the  definition  given  by  some  authors,  we  should  include  al- 
most the  majority  of  mankind,"  He  appeared  satisfied  with  the  an- 
swer, and  only  remarked,  with  a  melancholy  tone,  "  Je  crois  bien  que 
la  plupart  des  gens  soient  des  alienes."  Poor  man  !  although  reason 
was  dethroned,  it  was  evident,  from  his  conversation,  that  the  affec- 
tions retained  their  empire. 

[There  has  been  some  confusion  of  dates,  even  in  France,  until 
recently,  in  regard  to  the  world-renowned  deed  of  Pinel.  Dr.  D.  H. 
Tuke,  writing  of  his  ancestor,  William  Tuke,  who  did  for  England 
more  than  Pinel  did  for  France,  set  this  matter  right  in  1892,  soon 
after  Dr.  Earle's  death.  He  said  :  "  Pinel's  nephew,  Casimir  Pinel, 
discovered  in  the  registers  of  Bicetre  that  the  exact  date  of  his  noble 
inspiration  was  1793.     'On  doit  croire  que  ce  fut  vers  les    derniers 


324  PINEL S  DEED  OF  THE  YEAR  I 793 

mois  de  1793,  et  non  de  1792,  que  Pinel  se  presenta  a  I'Hotel  de  Ville 
pour  demander  I'autorisation  h.  la  Commune  de  faire  enlever  les 
chaines  aux  alie'ne's  de  Bicetre.'  (' Lettres  de  Pinel,'  1859.) 
M.  Semelaigne,  the  great-grand-nephew  of  Pinel,  gives  the  date  of 
his  nomination  to  Bicetre  as  Aug.  25,  1793,  and  the  day  of  entering 
upon  his  duties  there  as  Sept.  11,  1793.  ('Philippe  Pinel  et  son 
oeuvre,')  Then  followed  the  like  humane  deed  at  the  Salpetriere.'  " 
Dr.  Semelaigne  was  present  at  York  in  1892  when  the  story  of 
William  Tuke  was  told  by  his  descendants  and  successors,  in  celebrat- 
ing the  Centenary  of  the  York  Retreat,  July  21,  1892.] 


Pinel,  the    Younger,  describes  his  Father'' s  Deed. 

The  Bicetre  is  hallowed  as  being  the  scene  of  the  boldest  and 
noblest  achievement  recorded  in  the  annals  of  insanity.  Here  morn- 
ing first  dispelled  the  midnight  gloom  of  lunacy ;  and  the  guiltless 
maniac  was  released  from  the  thraldom  which  associated  him  with 
criminals  and  brutes,  taken  by  the  hand  as  a  brother,  and  acknowl- 
edged to  be  worthy  of  the  kindest  attention,  commiseration,  and 
sympathy. 

The  following  brief  account  of  the  commencement  of  the  labors  of 
Pinel,  extracted  from  a  paper  read  by  his  son  before  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Sciences,  commends  itself  to  the  attention  of  every 
reader : — 

"Towards  the  end  of  1792,*  Pinel,  after  having  many  times  urged 
the  government  to  allow  him  to  unchain  the  maniacs  of  the  Bicetre, 
but  in  vain,  went  himself  to  the  authorities,  and  with  much  earnest- 
ness and  warmth  advocated  the  removal  of  this  monstrous  abuse. 
Couthon,  a  member  of  the  Commune,  gave  way  to  M.  Pinel's  argu- 
ments, and  agreed  to  meet  him  at  the  Bicetre.  Couthon  then  inter- 
rogated those  who  were  chained  ;  but  the  abuse  he  received,  and  the 
confused  sounds  of  cries,  vociferations,  and  clanking  of  chains,  in  the 
filthy  and  damp  cells,  made  him  recoil  from  Pinel's  proposition. 
'  You  may  do  what  you  will  with  them,'  said  he,  '  but  I  fear  you  will 
become  their  victim.'  Pinel  instantly  commenced  his  undertaking. 
There  were  about  fifty  who  he  considered  might,  without  danger  to 
the  others,  be  unchained ;  and  he  began  by  releasing  twelve,  with  the 
sole  precaution  of  having  previously  prepared  the  same  number  of 
strong  waistcoats, t  with  long  sleeves,  which  could  be  tied  behind  the 
back,  if  necessary.     The  first  man  on  whom  the  experiment  was  to  be 

*  Really,  1793.  1  A  garment  now  known  by  its  French  name,  camisole. 


1793  325 

tried  was  an  English  captain,  whose  history  no  one  knew,  as  he  had 
been  in  chains  for  forty  years.  He  was  thought  to  be  one  of  the 
most  furious  among  them.  His  keepers  approached  him  with  cau- 
tion, as  he  had,  in  a  fit  of  fury,  killed  one  of  them  on  the  spot  with 
a  blow  from  his  manacles.  He  was  chained  more  rigorously  than 
any  of  the  others.  Pinel  entered  his  cell  unattended,  and  calmly  said 
to  him,  '  Captain,  I  will  order  your  chains  to  be  taken  off,  and  give 
you  liberty  to  walk  in  the  court,  if  you  promise  me  to  behave  well,  and 
injure  no  one.'  'Yes,  I  promise  you,'  said  the  maniac;  'but  you  are 
laughing  at  me, —  you  are  all  too  much  afraid  of  me.'  '  I  have  six 
men,'  said  Pinel,  'ready  to  enforce  my  commands,  if  necessary. 
Believe  me  then,  on  my  word,  I  will  give  you  your  liberty  if  you  will 
put  on  this  waistcoat.' 

"  He  submitted  to  this  willingly,  without  a  word.  His  chains  were 
removed ;  and  the  keepers  retired,  leaving  the  door  open.  He  raised 
himself  many  times  from  his  seat,  but  fell  again  on  it ;  for  he  had 
been  in  a  sitting  posture  so  long  that  he  had  lost  the  use  of  his  legs. 
In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  he  succeeded  in  maintaining  his  balance,  and 
with  tottering  steps  came  to  the  door  of  his  dark  cell.  His  first  look 
was  at  the  sky ;  and  he  cried  out  enthusiastically,  '  How  beautiful ! ' 
During  the  rest  of  the  day  he  was  constantly  in  motion,  walking  up 
and  down  the  staircases,  and  uttering  short  exclamations  of  delight. 
In  the  evening  he  returned  of  his  own  accord  into  his  cell,  where  a 
better  bed  than  he  had  been  accustomed  to  had  been  prepared  for 
him,  and  he  slept  tranquilly.  During  the  two  succeeding  years 
which  he  spent  in  the  Bicetre,  he  had  no  return  of  his  previous 
paroxysms,  but  even  rendered  himself  useful  by  exercising  a  kind 
of  authority  over  the  insane  patients,  whom  he  ruled  in  his  own 
fashion. 

"  The  next  unfortunate  being  whom  Pinel  visited  was  a  soldier  of 
the  French  guards,  whose  only  fault  was  drunkenness.  When  once 
he  lost  his  self-command  by  drink,  he  became  quarrelsome  and 
violent,  and  the  more  dangerous  from  his  great  bodily  strength. 
From  his  frequent  excesses  he  had  been  discharged  from  his  corps, 
and  he  had  speedily  dissipated  his  scanty  means.  DisgTace  and 
misery  so  depressed  him  that  he  became  insane.  In  his  paroxysms 
he  believed  himself  a  general,  and  fought  those  who  would  not  ac- 
knowledge his  rank.  After  a  furious  struggle  of  this  sort  he  was 
brought  to  the  Bicetre  in  a  state  of  great  excitement.     He  had  now 


320 


PINEL    AND    THE    MADMEN 


been  chained  for  ten  years,  and  with  greater  care  than  the  others, 
from  his  frequently  having  broken  his  chains  with  his  hands  only. 
Once,  when  he  broke  loose,  he  defied  all  his  keepers  to  enter  his  cell 
until  they  had  each  passed  under  his  legs ;  and  he  compelled  eight 
men  to  obey  this  strange  command.  Pinel,  on  his  previous  visits  to 
him,  regarded  him  as  a  man  of  original  good  nature,  but  under  ex- 
citement incessantly  kept  up  by  cruel  treatment ;  and  he  had  promised 
speedily  to  ameliorate  his  condition,  which  promise  alone  had  made 
him  more  calm.  Now  he  announced  to  him  that  he  should  be 
chained  no  longer  ;  and,  to  prove  that  he  had  confidence  in  him,  and 
believed  him  to  be  a  man  capable  of  better  things,  he  called  upon 
him  to  assist  in  releasing  those  others  who  had  not  reason  like  him- 
self, and  promised,  if  he  conducted  himself  well,  to  take  him  into  his 
own  service.  The  change  was  sudden  and  complete.  No  sooner 
was  he  liberated  than  he  became  attentive,  following  with  his  eye 
every  motion  of  Pinel,  and  executing  his  orders  with  as  much  ad- 
dress as  promptness.  He  spoke  kindly  and  reasonably  to  the  other 
patients,  and  during  the  rest  of  his  life  was  entirely  devoted  to  his 
deliverer.  '  I  can  never  hear  without  emotion,'  says  Pinel's  son, 
'  the  name  of  this  man,  who  some  years  after  this  occurrence 
shared  with  me  the  games  of  my  childhood,  and  to  whom  I  shall 
always  feel  attached.' 

"  In  the  next  cell  were  three  Prussian  soldiers,  who  had  been  in 
chains  for  many  years,  but  on  what  account  no  one  knew.  They 
were,  in  general,  calm  and  inoffensive,  becoming  animated  only 
when  conversing  together  in  their  own  language,  which  was  unintelli- 
gible to  others.  They  were  allowed  the  only  consolation  of  which 
they  appeared  sensible, —  to  live  together.  The  preparations  taken 
to  release  them  alarmed  them,  as  they  imagined  the  keepers  were 
come  to  inflict  new  severities ;  and  they  opposed  them  violently, 
when  removing  their  irons.  When  released,  they  were  not  willing  to 
leave  their  prison,  and  remained  in  their  habitual  posture.  Either 
grief  or  loss  of  intellect  had  rendered  them  indifferent  to  liberty.* 

"  Near  them  was  an  old  priest,  who  was  possessed  with  the  idea 
that  he  was  Christ.  His  appearance  indicated  his  belief.  He  was 
grave  and  solemn,  his  smile  soft,  and  at  the  same  time  severe,  re- 
pelling all  familiarity.  His  hair  was  long,  and  hung  on  each  side  of 
his  face,  which  was  pale,  intelligent,  and  resigned.  On  his  being 
once  taunted  with  a  question  that,  *  if  he  was  Christ,  he  could  break 

*  Dements,  of  course. 


1793  327 

his  chains,'  he  solemnly  replied,  '  Frustra  tentaris  Dominum  tuum.' 
His  whole  life  was  a  romance  of  religious  excitement.  He  under- 
took, on  foot,  pilgrimages  to  Cologne  and  Rome,  and  made  a  voyage 
to  America  for  the  purpose  of  converting  the  Indians.  His  domi- 
nant idea  became  changed  into  an  actual  mania,  and  on  his  return  to 
France  he  announced  himself  as  the  Saviour,  He  was  taken  by  the 
police  before  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  by  whose  orders  he  was  con- 
fined in  the  Bicetre  as  either  impious  or  insane.  His  hands  and 
feet  were  loaded  with  heavy  chains,  and  during  twelve  years  he  bore 
with  exemplary  patience  martyrdom  and  constant  sarcasms. 

"  Pinel  did  not  attempt  to  reason  with  him,  but  ordered  him  to 
be  unchained  in  silence,  directing,  at  the  same  time,  that  every  one 
should  imitate  the  old  man's  reserve,  and  never  speak  to  him.  This 
order  was  rigorously  observed,  and  produced  on  the  patient  a  more 
decided  effect  than  either  chains  or  the  dungeon.  He  became 
humiliated  by  this  unusual  isolation,  and  introduced  himself  to  the 
society  of  the  other  patients.  From  this  time  his  notions  became 
more  just  and  sensible ;  and  in  less  than  a  year  he  acknowledged  the 
absurdity  of  his  previous  prepossessions,  and  was  dismissed  from 
the  Bicetre. 

*'  In  the  course  of  a  few  days  Pinel  released  fifty-three  maniacs 
from  their  chains.  Among  them  were  men  of  all  conditions  and 
countries, —  workmen,  merchants,  soldiers,  lawyers,  etc.  The  result 
was  beyond  his  hopes.  Tranquillity  and  harmony  succeeded  to 
tumult  and  disorder ;  and  the  whole  discipline  was  marked  with  a 
regularity  and  kindness  which  had  the  most  favorable  effect  on  the 
insane  themselves,  rendering  even  the  most  furious  more  tractable." 


The  Asylmn  at  Charenton. 

Dr.  Louis  favored  me  with  a  letter  of  introduction  to  M.  Esquirol, 
the  m'edecin  en  chef  oi  the  asylum  at  Charenton,  and  the  distinguished 
veteran  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane.  With  this  I  went  to  the 
asylum,  where  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  to  whom  it  was 
addressed,  in  the  scene  of  his  present  labors  among  the  unfortunate 
people  who  love  and  honor  him  as  a  father,  and  in  whose  welfare 
his  interest  continues,  unrepressed  by  the  weight  of  accumulated 
years.  After  his  visit  to  the  patients  was  completed,  I  sat  an  hour 
with  him  in  the  parlor  of  the  institution,  during  which  time  he  con- 


328  ESQUIROL   AT    CHARENTOX 

versed  chiefly  upon  the  subjects  of  lunacy  and  of  lunatic  asylums. 
After  speaking  of  the  comparative  merits  of  the  various  establish- 
ments of  the  kind  in  Europe,  and  giving  the  preference  to  that  at 
Reggio,  in  Italy,  over  all  others  that  he  had  ever  visited,  he  made 
many  inquiries  with  regard  to  those  of  the  United  States,  and 
expressed  much  interest  in  the  progress  of  improvement  in  the 
treatment  of  the  insane  upon  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

The  asylum  of  Charenton,  in  a  village  of  the  same  name,  is  about 
five  miles  eastwardly  from  the  city  of  Paris.  It  is  situated  upon  the 
southern  declivity  of  a  hill,  which  runs  parallel  to  the  river  Marne 
near  its  shores,  and  but  a  short  distance  from  its  junction  with  the 
Seine.  It  was  originally  a  hospital,  under  the  care  of  the  Brothers 
of  Charity.  About  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  a 
department  was  for  the  first  time  devoted  to  the  reception  of  persons 
afflicted  with  mental  ahenation.  In  1795  the  hospital  was  sup- 
pressed; but  in  1797  it  was  re-established,  and  devoted  exclusively 
to  the  treatment  of  the  insane.  It  is  now  called,  in  common  with 
some  other  establishments  of  the  kind  in  other  parts  of  France, 
"  Maison  Royale  d'Alie'ne's."  It  includes  many  edifices,  which  have 
been  erected  at  various  periods,  and  extensive  gardens  and  prome- 
nades, which  extend  to  the  summit  of  the  hill  upon  the  declivity  of 
which  it  is  situated.  The  following  description  is  translated  from 
the  recent  elaborate  work  of  M.  Esquirol,  to  which  I  am  also 
indebted  for  most  of  the  subject-matter  for  the  remarks  upon  this 
asylum :  *  "  The  section  for  men  is  composed  of  four  courts  (of 
which  three  are  planted),  three  infirmaries,  one  ward  for  patients  of 
a  suicidal  propensity,  one  dormitory,  one  gallery  and  six  corridors 
into  which  open  the  doors  of  the  several  rooms ;  one  bathing-room, 
and  six  rooms  where  the  patients  assemble.  These  last-mentioned 
can  be  heated.  The  section  for  women  has  a  garden,  four  planted 
courts,  two  infirmaries,  one  ward  for  women  disposed  to  commit 
suicide,  two  bathing-rooms,  seven  dormitories,  six  galleries  and  cor- 
ridors into  which  open  the  doors  of  the  apartments,  and  five  rooms 
in  common,  which  may  be  heated." 

An  extensive  additional  department  for  females,  combining  most 
of  the  modern  improvements,  was  erected  about  twelve  years  ago, 
and  first  occupied  in  1829.  This  is  one  of  the  best-arranged  and 
most  neatly  kept  establishments  of  the  kind  that  I   have  had  the 

•Des  Maladies  Mentales,  considdrdes  sous  les  Rapports  Medical,  HyRi^nique,  et  Mddico-ldgal. 
Par  E.  Esquirol.     Paris,  i^ji. 


i«3«  329 

opportunity  to  examine.  The  furniture  is  good  and  sufficiently 
handsome,  without  being  extravagant.  The  beds  of  the  dormitories 
are  hung  with  white  curtains.  No  corresponding  department  for  the 
men  has  hitherto  been  erected. 


The  Milafi  Asylum. 

Manual  labor  is  pursued  to  a  considerable  extent  by  the  patients. 
A  large  garden  belonging  to  the  asylum  furnishes  employment  to 
nearly  one  hundred  of  them  during  the  warm  season.  In  one  room, 
through  which  we  passed,  between  forty  and  fifty  men  were  engaged 
in  braiding /^7^//rt;  di  Spagna  —  Spanish  straw — for  carpets.  They 
worked  as  steadily,  and  appeared  as  orderly,  as  if  they  had  not  been 
lunatics.  In  another  apartment  several  men  were  employed  in  mak- 
ing shoes,  and  as  many  more  in  tailoring.  One  of  the  latter  was 
cutting  clothes.  Soon  after  we  entered  he  commenced  talking  to 
me,  and  conversed  so  rationally  that  I  supposed  him  to  be  a  sane 
person,  acting  as  overseer  to  the  others.  Under  this  supposition  I 
inquired  of  him  if  all  those  under  his  care  were  insane,  to  which 
he  answered  in  the  affirmative.  Perceiving  that  he  conversed  in 
French,  I  asked  him  if  he  was  a  Frenchman.  He  replied  that  he 
was  not,  and  added,  "  Je  suppose  que  vous  etes  Anglais."  "  No," 
said  I,  "  I  am  an  American."  "  Ah !  vraiment,"  he  responded, 
dropping  his  shears  and  lifting  both  hands  as  if  agreeably  surprised, 
"  vous  etes  Americain.  Eh  bien,  vous  etes  trbs-heureux,  vous  etes 
carbonaro.  Tous  les  Americains  sont  des  carbonari.  Je  voudrais 
bien  etre  dans  ce  pays-la."  Knowing  the  subject  of  the  carbonari 
to  be  rather  a  delicate  one  in  Italy,  these  remarks,  together  with 
some  others  subsequently  made,  induced  me  to  suspect  him  insane, 
and  this  suspicion,  upon  inquiry  of  the  direttore  of  the  asylum, 
who  accompanied  me,  proved  correct. 

An  artist,  in  the  same  apartment  with  the  patient  above  men- 
tioned, was  occupied  in  cutting  designs  in  paper.  He  showed  me  a 
representation  of  Bonaparte  at  St.  Helena,  and  another  of  the  gar- 
den of  Eden.  They  were,  indisputably,  the  most  elegant  workman- 
ship of  the  kind  that  I  have  ever  examined.  I  attempted  to  pur- 
chase the  latter,  but  he  informed  me  that  it  was  already  disposed  of. 

Many  of  the  women  were  making  lint,  or  charpie,  for  the  use  of 
the  hospital  in  the  city ;    and  in  one  apartment  there  were  about 


330  asylujMS  in  italy  and  turkey 

ninety  sewing  and  spinning  tow  upon  throstles  whirled  by  the  hand. 
For  coercion  and  restraint  the  douche  and  confinement  in  bed,  or  of 
the  Umbs,  are  effectual  means.  I  observed  one  patient  manacled 
with  irons,  and  strong  leather  mittens  upon  his  hands.  He  tears  off 
his  clothes  whenever  his  arms  are  unrestrained.  Several  others 
wore  strong  leathern  belts,  to  which  their  arms  were  fastened.  In 
the  same  ward  with  these  men  there  was  another,  very  gentleman- 
like in  appearance,  who  was  exceedingly  anxious  lest  I  should  go 
away  unaware  of  his  dignity  or  of  the  distinguished  honor  I  had  re- 
ceived by  admission  into  his  presence.  Accordingly,  he  approached 
me,  and  repeated,  with  the  utmost  volubility,  a  long  list  of  titles, 
which  he  graced,  such  as  "prince"  of  one  place,  "king"  of  another, 
"emperor"  of  a  third,  and,  finally,  "ruler  of  the  world."  In  his 
anxiety  to  furnish  me  with  this  important  information,  he  followed  us 
far  out  of  the  ward. 

The  only  means  of  amusement  which  I  saw  were  a  swing  and  a 
giustra,  if  I  rightly  understood  the  word.  The  latter  is  so  con- 
structed that  four,  or,  indeed,  eight  persons  seated  at  the  extremities 
of  two  beams  which  cross  each  other  at  right  angles,  in  the  centre, 
may  revolve  horizontally  in  a  circle.  These  are  in  the  principal 
court  occupied  by  the  men.  The  court  is  shaded  by  two  parallel 
rows  of  sycamore-trees,  beneath  which  are  many  seats  for  the  pa- 
tients, permanently  fastened  to  the  ground. 


The  Asylum  at  Constanthwple. 

Connected  with  some  of  the  mosques  there  are  buildings  for  the 
reception  of  the  sick, —  a  kind  of  hospital,  in  which  the  poor  who 
are  suffering  under  disease  may  have  their  wants  ministered  to  by 
the  hand  of  charity.  That  which  is  adjacent  to  Suliman-ye,  or  the 
mosque  of  Suliman,  is  devoted  exclusively  to  the  insane.  There 
none  but  men  are  admitted,  the  women  according  to  Turkish  cus- 
tom, as  well  as  in  conformity  with  the  precepts  of  the  religion  of 
Mahomet,  being  kept  in  private  seclusion.  The  building  is  but  one 
story  in  height,  and,  like  the  cloisters  of  many  Gothic  cathedrals,  and 
the  khans  or  caravanserais  of  Turkey  and  Natolia,  completely  sur- 
rounds a  central  court.  The  entrances  to  all  the  rooms  are  beneath 
the  corridor  at  which  the  court,  upon  all  sides,  is  limited. 

I    visited    this    asylum    during    the    feast    of    Eairam,  near   the 


1838  331 

close  of  the  year  1838,  in  company  with  two  American  gentlemen, 
residents  at  Constantinople.  We  entered  the  court,  passing  several 
miserably  clad  people,  "  sitting  at  the  gate,"  not  "  to  ask  alms,"  but 
to  receive  it,  if  voluntarily  offered.  Within  the  court  were  many 
people,  mostly  young  men  and  boys,  vv^ho  had  come  either  for  the 
gratification  of  curiosity  or  to  administer  to  the  wants  of  the  af- 
flicted. We  passed  along  the  corridor  to  the  first  window.  From 
between  the  bars  of  the  iron  grating  with  which  this  was  defended 
a  heavy  chain,  ominous  of  the  sad  reality  within,  protruded,  and  was 
fastened  to  the  external  surface  of  the  wall.  It  was  about  six  feet 
in  length.  The  opposite  extremity  was  attached  to  a  heavy  iron 
ring,  surrounding  the  neck  of  a  patient  who  was  sitting,  within  the 
grating,  upon  the  window-seat.  We  entered  the  room,  and  found  two 
other  patients,  similarly  fastened,  at  the  two  windows  upon  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  room.  It  was  a  most  cheerless  apartment.  A  jug  to 
contain  water,  and,  for  each  of  the  patients,  a  few  boards  laid  upon 
the  floor,  or  elevated  three  or  four  inches,  at  most,  and  covered  with 
a  couple  of  blankets,  were  all  the  articles  of  comfort  or  conven- 
ience with  which,  aside  from  their  clothing,  these  miserable  creatures 
were  supplied.  Although  in  the  latter  part  of  December,  they  had 
no  fire.  Nor  were  the  windows  glazed  ;  but  close  shutters,  attached 
to  each,  rendered  it  possible  measurably  to  shield  the  inmates  from 
severe  weather,  whenever  it  might  occur.  The  length  of  the  chain 
of  each  patient  is  barely  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  lie  down  upon 
his  comfortless  bed  of  boards  and  blankets.  Leaving  this  apartment, 
we  proceeded  successively  to  the  others,  twelve  or  fifteen  in  number, 
in  all  of  which  we  found  the  patients  in  a  very  similar  condition  to 
those  whom  we  had  first  seen.  There  was  but  one  who  was  not 
chained.  He  was  an  elderly  man,  though  still  retaining  much  of  the 
vivacity  of  earlier  years.  His  long  and  profuse  hair  and  beard  were 
nearly  white,  and  his  complexion  very  delicate.  He  was  formerly 
a  priest  of  the  Islam  faith.  He  has  been  deranged  and  confined  in 
this  place  nearly  fifteen  years,  during  which  time  he  has  thrice 
broken  the  chain  with  which  he  was  secured.  He  is  now  alone  in 
his  apartment,  within  which  no  one  is  permitted  to  enter.  He 
talked  and  raved  incessantly,  threatening  to  kill  those  who  were 
making  him  their  gazing-stock. 

Like  those  in  the  apartment  first  mentioned,  all  the  patients,  with 
one  exception,  were  without  fire.  The  person  forming  this  excep- 
tion was  one  of  the  most  hideous  of  undeformed  human  beings.     He 


332  THE    INSANE    IN    CONSTANTINOPLE 

has  been  in  the  Timar-hane,  as  this  asylum  is  called  by  the  Turks, 
more  than  forty  years.  His  hair  and  beard,  both  naturally  abun- 
dant, curly,  and  black  as  ebony,  appeared  as  if  they  had  not  been 
cut  or  combed  since  his  entrance.  They  nearly  concealed  his  face, 
and  the  former  hung  in  a  profusion  of  literally  "  dishevelled  locks  " 
about  his  neck  and  shoulders.  His  head  would  have  been  a 
nofipareil  for  an  original  to  the  figure  of  Cain,  in  David's  celebrated 
picture  of  "  Cain  meditating  the  Death  of  Abel."  He  lay  crouched 
upon  all  fours,  resting  upon  his  knees  and  elbows,  and  holding  his 
head  and  hands  over  a  inanghah  of  living  embers.  Whatsoever  was 
said,  whether  addressed  to  him  or  otherwise,  could  only  induce  him 
slowly  to  turn  his  huge  head,  and  present  his  hideous  face  more 
directly  to  view.     His  case  was  a  striking  example  of  dementia. 

The  patients,  generally,  appeared  to  enjoy  pretty  good  health, 
aside  from  the  lesion  producing  insanity.  I  was  informed  that  a 
physician  attends  them  regularly.  There  is  a  person  who  has  the 
charge  of  supplying  them  with  food,  and  they  receive  considerable 
attention  from  those  who  visit  them.  While  we  were  there,  many 
visitors  were  conversing  with  them,  giving  them  articles  of  food, 
money,  and  tobacco,  and  doing  them  a  kind  office  by  filling  and 
lighting  their  "  chebouks."  These  patients  presented  a  diversity  of 
forms  of  insanity,  and  a  variety  of  hallucinations.  One  of  them  was 
seated  against  the  bars  of  his  window,  cross-legged,  and  with  arms 
folded  upon  his  breast,  in  all  the  counterfeited  dignity  of  a  sovereign, 
and  the  imperturbable  gravity  of  a  saint.  It  was  evident  by  his  de- 
meanor that  he  esteemed  himself  one  of  the  rulers  of  the  earth, —  a 
Mahmoud,  a  Mahomet,  or  a  Great  Mogul.  Upon  being  informed 
that  I  was  an  American,  "  Please,"  said  he,  turning  towards  me 
slowly,  and  without  the  slightest  change  of  countenance, —  "  please, 
effendi,  to  give  my  respects  to  the  Sultan  of  America."  This  said, 
he  assumed  his  former  position,  and  maintained  it  with  the  most 
scrupulous  exactitude. 

There  was  another,  one  of  the  finest-looking  Mussulmans  that 
ever  worshipped  before  the  altars  of  Stamboul.  His  beard  might 
acknowledge  no  rival  in  beauty  excepting  that  of  Mahmoud  U. 
and  his  eye  possessed  all  the  mingled  fire  and  softness  of  the 
Orient.  He  was  occupied  in  sewing.  He  was  surrounded  by 
several  young  Turks,  but  continued  his  labor,  regardless  of  any  of 
those  who  were  present.  The  gentleman  of  our  party  who  speaks 
the  Turkish    language  addressed    him,  and  at  length  won  him,  al- 


i«3«  333 

though  with  considerable  reluctance  on  his  part,  into  conversation. 
I  have  never  witnessed  a  greater  blandness  and  suavity  of  manners 
than  in  him.  Upon  being  asked  the  cause  for  which  he  had  come  to 
that  place,  "Please,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "to  be  seated,  and  I  will 
relate  the  whole  history."  Inasmuch  as  the  uncovered  stone  floor 
presented  an  aspect  rather  uninviting  as  a  seat,  we  excused  our- 
selves ;  and  he  was  requested  to  proceed.  Thereupon  he  placed 
himself  in  an  attitude  worthy  of  the  orators  of  antiquity,  and  related 
a  long  story  in  a  most  amusing  but  graceful  manner.  The  whole 
substance  of  it  was  that  people  began  by  calling  him  a  fool,  and, 
going  from  bad  to  worse,  at  length  ended  by  bringing  him  to  the 
Timar-hane  of  Suliman-ye. 

Such,  then,  is  the  gloomy  picture  with  which  these  sketches  of 
some  of  the  asylums  for  suffering  humanity  are  brought  to  a  con- 
clusion. It  presents  us  with  an  additional  motive  for  hoping  that 
the  stream  of  knowledge,  which,  taking  its  rise  in  Chaldea,  has 
flowed  to  us,  constantly  augmented  in  its  course,  through  Egypt, 
Greece,  Rome,  and  the  nations  of  Western  Europe,  may  reverse  its 
course  or  release  a  branch,  once  more  to  fertilize  the  desolate 
regions  of  intellect  throughout  the  East.  It  is  a  proposition  the 
truth  of  which  cannot  be  questioned  that  in  proportion  as  a  nation 
advances  in  intellectual  cultivation,  its  practical  benevolence  assumes 
a  loftier  standard.  When,  then,  the  light  of  science  shall  gild  with 
brighter  rays  the  empire  of  the  Ottoman,  we  doubt  not  that  the 
chains  of  the  maniac  will  be  broken,  and  his  condition  rendered 
such  as  to  leave  a  hope  that  alienated  reason  may  reassume  her 
proper  throne. 

It  is  difficult  to  reconcile  the  treatment  of  the  patients  in  the 
Timar-hane  with  the  testimony  of  physicians  in  regard  to  the 
attention  paid  to  unconfined  lunatics  in  Turkey,  and  with  the  prev- 
alent opinion  among  the  followers  of  Mahomet  that  the  insane  are 
the  especial  favorites  of  heaven,  that  their  "  discord  "  is 

Harmony  not  understood, 

that  their  language  appears  to  us  to  be  incoherent  and  unmeaning 
merely  because  the  minds  of  the  sane  are  not  sufficiently  spiritualized 
to  comprehend  it.  Dr.  Millingen,  an  EngUsh  physician  who  had 
practised  nearly  twenty  years  in  Constantinople,  informed  me  that  he 
had  known  the  wandering  lunatic  to  be  received  by  strangers,  and 
for  weeks  in  succession  receive  all  the  kindness  of  the  most  cordial 
hospitality. 


334 


GERMAN    ASYLUMS 


1 

4S7  square  miles.     Population,  2,830,936. 

At  Cologne. 

At  Aix  la  Chapelle. 

At  Aix  la  Chapelle. 

Takes  incurables  from  Sicgljurg. 
Pastor  Fliedner,  director. 
For  men,  opened  more  than  100  years  ago. 
Dr.  Focke,  second  physician. 
Andernach.     Incurables  from  Siegburg. 

638  square  miles.     Population,  1,468,998. 

Dr.  Schwartz,  second  physician. 

460  square  miles.     Population,  1,790,240. 
Dr.  H.  Laehr,  second  phy,sician. 

576  square  miles.     Population,  1,197,701. 

1     1 

1   - 
1   1 

s.  :- 

s  1 
1  " 

1  ^ 

1 

o 

1 

9     Dec,  1851 
so     Dec,  1851 
()■;     End     1 85 1 
126     Dec,  185 1 
III     Dec,   1851 
For  40  females 
25     End     1851 
228     Nov.,  1851 
117     Dec,  185 1 
98     Dec,  1851 

28     End     1 85 1 

334     Dec,  1851 

4     End     1850 

313     Dec,  1851 
19     Dec,  1851 

21     Dec,  1851 
69     Dec,  1850 
27     End    18  a 

176     End     1851 
128     End     1851 
148     End     1850 

2 

5 

•I 

5 

Dr.  Raeckel 
Dr.  Schumacher 
Dr.  Ilartuiig 
Dr.  Raeckel 
Dr.  Bournye 
1  )r.  Hintze 
1  h:  Hellersberg 
I  )r.  Jacobi 
1  )r.  Lux 
1  h:  Tobias 

Dr.  Schupmann 
I  )r.  Knabbe 
1  )r.  Pellengahr 

Dr.  Damerow, 
Dr.  Neide 

Dr.  Berndt 

Dr.  Steinhauer 

Dr.  Von  Wulff-Crona 

Dr.  Leubuscher 
Dr.  Ideler 
Dr.  Wallis 

1 

o 

luolco!c<;lcocooo|ooool     Icol     loooooo 

1    ifl 

Incurables 

Mixed 
Incurables 
Curables 
Incurables 

Incurables 
Rel. -united 
Mixed 

Rel. -united 
Incurables 

Curables 
Incurables 

3.!< 

3 

_    _         _    _             .    _    . 

Rhine  Province: 

Alexian  Brothers 

Alexian  Brothers 

Annunciaten 

Cologne    .     .     . 

Diisseldorf     .     . 

Kaiserswerth 

Neuss  .... 

Siegburg    .     .     . 

St.  Thomas    .     . 

Treves  .... 
Westphalia: 

Gesecke     .     .     . 

Marsberg  .     .     . 

Miinster  .  .  . 
Saxony: 

Halle    .... 

Magdeburg  .  . 
Pomerania: 

Greifswald     .     . 

Ruegenwald  .     . 

Stralsund  .     .     . 

Brandenhurg : 
Arbeitshaus   .     . 
Charite      .     .     . 
Neu  Ruppin  .     . 

1852 


335 


s 

741  square  miles.     Population,  3,065,800. 

Dr.  Hoffman,  second  physician. 

536,51  square  miles.    Population,  1,364,000. 

1,178  square  miles.     Population,  2,499,400. 

Patients  to  be  removed  to  Schwetz. 

To  be  abohshed  when  Wehlau  is  opened. 

General  hospital ;  patients  not  separated. 

Expected  to  open  in  1852. 

Expected  to  open  in  1852. 

«■ 

.1 

6 

160     Nov.,  1851 
loi     Dec,  1851 

41     Dec,  1851 
170     End     1851 
144     Dec,  1851 
no     Dec,  1851 

94                1850 
18                1852 

69  Dec,  1851 
71  Nov.,  1851 
16     End     1851 

For  200 

For  200 

3 

1 

5 

Dr.  Schneiber 
Dr.  Schultze 

Dr.  Ebers 
Dr.  Ehrlich 
Dr.  Martini 
Dr.  Pohl 

Dr.  Beschorner 

Dr.  Goetz 
Dr.  Bernhardi 
Dr.  Butzke 

1 
0 

1812 

1820 
1830 
1826 

i6cent'y 

i8cent'y 

1822 

Mixed 
Inc.  &  idiots 

Mixed 
Incurables 
Curables 
Incurables 

Mixed 
Incurables 

Mixed 
Rel.-united 

H 
Z 

Brandenburg,  con. — 

Sorau 

Wittstock  .  .  . 
Silesia: 

Breslau      .... 

Brieg 

Leubus      .... 

Plagwitz  .... 
Posen : 

Owinsk      .... 

Posen    

Prussia: 

Dantzig     .... 

Koenigsberg       .     . 

Schwetz    .... 

Schwetz    .... 

Wehlau     .... 

ro 

ro 

■% 

a 

C 

fTl 

J 

O  -C 


336 


GERMAN    ASYLUMS 


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Roda    .... 
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Merxhausen  .     . 
R.  LiPi'E  Detmol 
Brake   .... 
R.  Schwarzburg 
Arnstadt    .     .     . 
Rudolstadt    .     . 

Hambur 
Bremen 
Lubeck 
Frankfoi 
on  Mai 

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GERMAN    PRIVATE    ASYLU:MS,    1S52 


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E 

Near  Coblentz.     For  insane  and  idiots. 

Established   by  Dr.  F.  Nasse,  father  of 

present  proprietor,  who  died  in  1851. 

Between  Cologne  and  Bonn. 
For  25.     3  geographical  miles  from  Bonn, 
2  from  Siegburg. 

Founded  at  Sumpendorf,  in  18 19,  by  the 
father  of  Dr.  Gbrgen. 

Near  Dresden ;  founded  by  Dr.  Braunlich. 

Dr.  Dietrich,  second  physician. 

Near  Leipzig. 

Formerly  Heimbach  ;  near  Esslingen. 

14      English      miles      from      Stuttgard. 

Founded  by  Dr.  Schnurrer,  senior. 
In  the  suburbs  of  Jena. 

Near  Kiel,  Dr.  W.  Jessen,  2d  phy.sician. 

2  large  gardens 

7  acres 
50  acres 

Large  park 

6  acres 
2|  acres 

20  acres 

•3 
1 

22  End  1851 

16  rooms 

For  20 
8  in  1850 

1 5  End  1850 

4  End  1850 

About  30 

For  20 
For  20 
25  in  1844 

For  25 
J'"or  50-60 

2 

Q 

Dr.  Erlenmeyer 
Dr.  M.  Nasse 

Dr.  Herz 
Dr.  Albers 
Dr.  Richards 
Dr.  Meyer 

Dr.  Whitfield 
Dr.  Posner 
Dr.  Zelasko 

Dr.  Gorgen 

Dr.  Matthias 
Dr.  Pienits 
Dr.  Guentz 
Dr.  Stimmel 
Dr.  Schnurrer 

M.  Bauer,  prop. 
Dr.  Kicser 
Dr.  Marting 
Dr.  F.  Engelken 
Dr.  H.  Engelken 
Dr.  P.  Jessen 

1 

s, 
0 

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col        colcoco       coco!        00               loo:»col        cooclr~.co 

•c 
1 

Prussia : 
Rhine  Province 

Brandenburg 
Posen 
Austria : 
Lower  Austria 

Germany : 
Kingd'm  Saxony 

Wiirtemberg 

S  axe- Weimar 
Saxe-Meiningen 
Near  Bremen 

Schleswig 

3 

Bendorf    .     . 
Bonn   .     .     . 

Bonn    .     .     . 
Bonn    .     .     . 
Endenich 
Eitorf  .     .     . 

Moers  .     .     . 
Beriin  .     .     . 
Kowanowko 

Vienna     .     . 

Lindenhof     . 
Poina  .     .     . 
Thonberg      . 
Kennenburg 
Schbndorf     . 

Jena     .     .     . 
Marienthal    . 
Oberneuland 
Rockwinkel  . 
Hornheim     . 

1852  341 

General   View  of  the  German  Institutions  for  the  Insane 
zvitJi  Reference  to  their  Destination. 

AA.     PRIVATE    INSTITUTIONS. 

Bendorf,  Berlin,  Bonn  3,  Eitorf,  Endenich,  Hornheim,  Jena,  Kennenburg,  Kowa- 
nowko,  Lindenhof,  Marienthal,  Moers,  Oberneuland,  Pirna,  Rockwinkel,  Schon- 
dorf,  Thonberg,  Vienna. 

BB.     PUBLIC    INSTITUTIONS. 

I.    CONNECTED    WITH    OTHER    INSTITUTIONS. 
A.  With  Penal  Institutions. 

I.  Curables  and  Incurables. —  Strelitz,  Gera. 

2.  For  Incurables. —  Berlin. 

B.  With  Other  Hospitals. 
(a)  In  the  same  building. 

1.  For  Curables  attd  Incurables. —  Berlin,  Breslau,  Brunn,  Dantzig,  Gratz,  Ham- 
burg, Klagenfurt,  Mlinster,  Schwetz,  Trient,  Wiirtzljurg. 

2.  For  Incurables. —  Cologne,  Leipzig. 
{b)  In  separate  buildings. 

'      I.  For    Curables   and    Incurables. —  Bremen,    Kaiserswerth,    Laibach,    Luxem- 
burg, Roda,  Trieste,  Vienna,  Hubertusburg,  Treves. 

C.  With  Asylums  for  Chronic  and  Incurable  Cases. 
I .  For  Curables  a7id  Incurables. —  Hofheim. 

2.  For  Incurables. —  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Frankenthal,  Gesecke,  Hainai,  Merx- 
hausen,  Pforzheim,  Stralsund,  Wittstock. 

II.  INDEPENDENT   INSTITUTIONS. 

1.  Mixed,  Curables  and  Incurables  together. —  Armstadt,  Bamberg,  Baireuth, 
Brake,  Brunswick,  Dessau,  Frankfort  on  the  Main,  Gotha,  Hall,  Hildburg- 
hausen,  Irsee,  Jena,  Konigsberg,  Lintz,  Lubec,  Mariaberg,  Munich,  Neu  Ruppin, 
Owinsk,  Regensburg,  Rudolstadt,  Salzburg,  Schleswig,  Soran,  Winterbach,  Ybbs. 

2.  [a)  For  Incurables. —  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Blankenburg,  Brieg,  Cologne,  Colditz, 
Domitz,  DUsseldorf,  Magdeburg,  Neuss,  Plagowitz,  Posen,  Riigenwald,  St. 
Thomas  (Andernach),  Zwiefalten. 

2.  (b)  For  Curables. —  Greifswald,  Klingenmunster,  Leubus,  Sachsenberg,  Son- 
nenstein,  Siegburg,  Vienna,  Winnenthal. 

3.  Relative-connected  Institutions,  the  Curables  and  Incurables  being  itt  separate 
buildings. —  Eichberg,  Erlangen,  Halle,  Hildesheim,  Illenau,  Marsberg,  Prague, 
Schwetz,  Wehlau. 


342  DR.    EARLE    ON    COLOR-BLINDNESS    (1845) 


IV.     Color-blindness  in  1844-45. 

[This  paper  was  printed  in  part  in  the  American  Journal  of  the 
Medical  Sciences,  but  is  here  given  with  some  of  the  names  substituted 
for  initials,  and  with  other  variations  which  make  it  interesting. 
When  written,  the  subject  was  almost  unknown  in  America,  and  had 
been  but  little  studied  in  Europe.  It  is  now  well  understood ;  and 
seamen,  railway  officials,  army  officers,  and  others  act  upon  the 
knowledge  which  fifty  years  ago  was  the  possession  of  only  a  few 
men  of  exact  observation,  like  Dr.  Earle.  He  seems  to  have  used  the 
paper  as  a  lecture.     It  is  here  printed  from  his  manuscript.] 

"  Know  thyself  !  "  Such  was  the  important  and  comprehensive 
injunction  inscribed  upon  the  entablature  of  the  portico  of  the  tem- 
ple at  Delphos ;  and  from  the  time  of  the  first  establishment  of  the 
Delphian  oracle  down  to  the  present  time  man  has  endeavored,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  to  act  in  obedience  to  the  command.  He  has 
attempted  to  reveal  the  hidden  secrets  of  his  physical  as  well  as  of 
his  mental  existence  through  the  agency  of  every  available  means. 
The  elements  of  antiquity  (fire,  air,  earth,  and  water)  have  been  called 
upon  to  contribute  towards  the  attainment  of  this  end.  Observation 
and  research  have  exerted  their  influence.  Matter  and  mind  have 
united  their  energies  for  its  acquisition.  Astrologers  have  invoked 
the  agency  of  the  starry  hosts.  Theologians  and  metaphysicians 
have  spent  their  lives  in  speculations,  have  promulgated  theory  after 
theory,  until  "of  the  making  of  many  books  there  is  no  end." 
Anatomists  have  plied  the  scalpel  with  an  assiduity  which  has  left 
hardly  a  fibre  of  the  human  system  undissected  from  its  neighbor. 
Physiologists  have  theorized  until  their  doctrines  are  nearly  as 
various  as  the  languages  of  Babel.  Chemists  have  called  into 
requisition  every  agent  reacting  upon  the  tissues  and  their  products, 
and  have  brought  the  powerful  means  of  analysis  and  synthesis  to 
their  aid.  And  what  is  the  result  ?  Mind  is  still  unknown  to  itself, 
except  by  some  of  its  attributes.  Its  abstract  nature  and  its  con- 
nection with  the  body  are  as  truly  among  the  arcana  of  nature  at  the 
present  day  as  in  the  time  of  Adam.  What  is  our  knowledge  of  the 
body  ?  The  scalpel  has  revealed  the  form,  and  the  microscope,  to 
some  extent,  the  intimate  structure,  of  the  several  organic  systems  of 
which  it  is  composed ;  but  in  what  utter  darkness  are  we  still  groping 
in  regard  to  the  functions  of  those  organs  !  The  thymus,  the  thyroid 
and  the  bronchial  glands,  the  spleen,  the  appcndicida  vermiformis,  the 


i84S  343 

pineal  gland, —  that  Cartesian  throne  of  the  immortal  soul, —  the/^r- 
nix,  the  pons  Varolii,  and,  one  might  almost  say,  the  whole  mass  of  the 
encephalon, —  what  are  these  but  terra  incognita,  even  to  the  most 
"  transcendental  "  anatomist  and  the  most  profound  physiologist  ? 

Receding  one  step  farther,  how  is  our  knowledge  confounded,  in 
relation  even  to  those  organs  of  which  we  are  acquainted  with  the 
immediate  use,  by  the  simple  question,  "  How  does  it  act  ? " 

I  nothing  know  but  that  I  am, 

says  the  poet :  and  in  a  similar  manner,  in  relation  to  the  functions 
of  the  organs  in  question  (that  of  secretion,  for  example),  the  physiol- 
ogist may  assert,  with  a  becoming  humility,  "  I  nothing  know  but 
that  it  is."  For  what  is  the  benefit,  what  the  advancement  of  knowl- 
edge, if  we  attempt  to  explain  the  phenomenon  of  secretion  by  resort- 
ing to  the  undefinable  and  uncomprehended  terms  or  phrases 
"vitality,"  "organic  forces,"  "t'z'j  vitae,'^  ^^  vis  animae,"  and  the  like  ? 
Is  it  not  a  subterfuge  approximating  in  absurdity  to  that  of  the  early 
natural  philosophers,  who,  having  declared  that  "  Nature  abhors  a 
vacuum,"  were  compelled  to  draw  the  inference,  and  assert  accord- 
ingly, that,  "  although  Nature  abhors  a  vacuum,  yet  she  does  not 
abhor  a  vacuum  above  the  height  of  thirty-two  feet." 

These  reflections  have  been  suggested  by  the  nature  of  the  subject 
about  to  engage  our  attention.  It  is  a  fact  long  known  to  physiol- 
ogists (but  of  which  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  community 
appears  to  be  ignorant)  that  there  are  persons  who,  although  their 
organs  of  vision  are  apparently  perfect  m  every  respect  appreciable 
to  the  senses,  do  not  possess  the  power  of  an  accurate  discrimination 
of  colors.  To  these  persons,  colors  appear  identical  which  to  others 
are  nearly  as  opposite  as  white  and  black.  Red  and  green,  suffi- 
ciently dissimilar  to  ordinary  perceptions,  almost  invariably  appear  to 
them  to  be  alike ;  while  in  respect  to  most  of  the  other  colors,  primary 
or  secondary,  they  are  involved,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  in  the 
same  difficulty. 

So  far  as  my  own  researches  have  extended,  here  are  all  the  cases 
of  this  peculiar  physiological  trait  that  have  been  published :  — 

I.  Mr.  Harris,  of  Allonsby,  England  (Cumberland). —  Black  and 
white  were  the  only  colors  of  which  he  had  an  accurate  perception, 
and  he  could  distinguish  between  red  cherries  and  the  surrounding 
leaves  by  their  form  alone.     He  had  two  brothers  with  the  same 


344  BRITISH    CASES    OF    COLOR-BLINDNESS 

defect,  one  of  whom  always  mistook  orange  for  grass  green,  and  light 
green  for  yellow.  (Case  described  in  Philosophical  Transactions 
for  1777,  p.  260,) 

2.  Scott, —  He  mistook  pink  for  pale  blue,  and  red  for  green. 
His  father  and  a  maternal  uncle,  one  of  his  sisters,  and  two  of  his 
sons  had  the  same  defect.  (Related  by  himself  in  Philosophical 
Transactions,  1778,  p.  613.) 

3.  Robert  Tucker,  of  Ashburton,  England. —  Orange  and  green 
were  identical  to  him,  so  were  blue  and  pink.  He  could  generally 
discriminate  yellow,  but  mistook  red  for  brown,  and  blue  or  violet  for 
purple.     (Transactions  of  Phrenological  Society,  p.  209.) 

4.  J.  B.,  a  tailor  of  Plymouth,  England. —  The  solar  spectrum  ap- 
peared to  him  as  if  composed  of  the  two  colors,  yellow  and  blue. 
Indigo  and  Prussian  blue  looked  Uke  black,  purple  like  a  modifica- 
tion of  blue,  dark  green  like  brown,  and  light  green  like  a  pale 
orange.  He  once  patched  the  elbow  of  a  blue  coat  with  crimson, 
and  at  another  time  repaired  a  garment  with  crimson  silk,  supposing 
it  to  be  black.  Yellow,  white,  and  gray  were  the  only  colors  he 
could  distinguish  with  certainty.  (Transactions  Philosophical 
Society  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  x.   p.   253.) 

5.  DuGALD  Stewart,  the  mental  philosopher,  could  not  distin- 
guish the  scarlet  fruit  of  the  Siberian  crab  from  its  leaves. 

6.  Dr.  Dalton,  the  eminent  English  chemist,  and  his  brother. — 
In  the  solar  spectrum  he  can  perceive  yellow  and  blue,  the  red  being 
"scarcely  visible,"  and  the  other  colors  unperceived.  Blue  and  pink 
are  alike  to  him  by  daylight,  (Memoirs  of  the  Literary  and  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  Manchester,  vol.  v.  p.  28.) 

7.  Mr.  Troughton,  an  eminent  optician  of  London. —  The  whole 
solar  spectrum  appeared  to  him  of  but  two  colors,  yellow  and  blue, 
all  the  least  refrangible  rays  being  of  the  former  tint  and  the  most 
refrangible  of  the  latter.  (Brewster's  Optics,  American  edition, 
p.  260.) 

8.  Another  man  seen  by  Sir  David  Brewster,  who  could  perceive 
only  yellow  and  blue  in  the  spectrum.     {Ibid.) 

9.  A  man  in  the  British  navy  of  whom  it  is  said  that  he  purchased 
a  blue  "  uniform  "  coat,  with  vest,  and  red  breeches  to  match.  He 
had  one  brother  similarly  affected,  (Dr,  NichoU  in  Medico-chi- 
rurgical  Transactions   of  London,   vol.  vii.) 

ID.  A  grand-nephew  of  the  gentleman  last  mentioned. —  He  con- 


i84S  345 

founded  green  with  red,  and  called  light  red  and  pink  blue.  Paper 
stained  with  radish-root  he  called  "blue,"  and  spoke  of  green 
spectacles  as  "  red  glasses."  Indeed,  it  appeared  that  light  yellow 
was  the  only  color  that  he  could  accurately  distinguish. 

11.  Another  gentleman,  whose  case  is  published  by  Dr.  Nicholl. — 
In  his  own  words  he  says  :  "  My  eyes  are  gray  with  a  yellow  tinge 
around  the  pupil.  The  color  I  am  most  at  a  loss  with  is  green,  and 
in  attempting  to  distinguish  it  from  red  it  is  merely  guess-work. 
Scarlet,  in  most  cases,  I  can  distinguish ;  but  a  dark  bottle-green  I 
could  not,  with  any  certainty,  tell  from  brown.  Light  yellow  I  know  ; 
but  a  dark  yellow  I  might  confound  with  light  brown,  though  in 
most  cases  I  think  I  should  know  them  from  red.  All  the  shades  of 
light  red,  pink,  purple,  etc.,  I  call  light  blue ;  but  dark  blue  and 
black  I  think  I  know  with  certainty.  Though  I  see  different  shades 
in  looking  at  the  rainbow,  I  should  say  it  is  a  mixture  of  yellow  and 
blue,  yellow  in  the  centre  and  blue  towards  the  edges.  I  have  red 
crimson  curtains  in  the  windows  of  my  bed-room,  which  appear  red 
to  me  by  candle-light  and  blue  by  daylight.  The  grass  in  full  verdure 
appears  to  me  w^hat  other  people  call  red ;  and  the  fruit  on  trees, 
when  red,  I  cannot  distinguish  from  the  leaves  unless,  when  I  am 
near  it,  the  more  from  the  difference  of  shape  than  color.  A  cucum- 
ber and  a  boiled  lobster  I  should  call  the  same  color,  making  allow- 
ance for  the  difference  of  shade  to  be  found  in  both  ;  and  a  leek,  in 
luxuriance  of  growth,  is  to  me  more  like  a  stick  of  red  sealing-wax 
than  anything  I  can  compare  it  with."  (Medico-chirurgical  Trans- 
actions, vol.  ix.  p.  359.) 

(This  man's  eyes,  when  fatigued  by  looking  at  red  and  green  spots 
on  a  white  ground,  became  much  affected  ;  but  no  incidental  color 
made  its  appearance.) 

12.  James  Milne. —  (One  of  the  three  brothers  of  No.  15.)  See 
below.     (Transactions  Phrenological  Society,  p.  222.) 

13.  Mr.  C. —  No  details.     {Glasgow  Medical  Journal,  vol.  ii.  p.  15.) 

14.  Two  cases  detailed  by  Dr.  Elliotson,  In  one  of  them  the 
rainbow  appeared  as  a  band  of  a  brighter  color  than  the  rest  of  the 
sky,  but  a  little  darker  at  one  side  than  the  other,  and  gradually 
shaded  off  between  the  two  sides.  {American  Jourjial  Medical  Sci- 
ences, vol.  xxiii.  p.  446.) 

15.  Three  brothers  and  a  cousin  mentioned  in  G.  Combe's  "  System 
of  Phrenology  "  and  in  the  Edinburgh  Transactions  of  the  Phreno- 


346  AMERICAN    CASES    OF    COLOR-BLINDNESS 

logical  Society.  They  inherited  color-blindness  from  their  maternal 
grandfather,  there  being  none  of  the  intermediate  generation  who  had 
the  same  peculiarity. 

16.  M.  M, — A  case  recently  published  by  M.  Boys  de  Loury. 
He  was  a  draper,  but  obliged  to  give  up  his  business  on  account  of 
the  defect.  The  irides  of  his  eyes  were  light  blue,  confounded 
towards  the  centre  with  yellow  spots.  He  thought  that  vermilion, 
scarlet,  and  the  color  produced  by  madder  were  identical.  Rose- 
color  appeared  to  be  a  dirty  white,  and  carmine  a  deep  blue  or 
violet.     {Aimales  Medico-psychologiques^  January,  1844.) 

17.  A  boy,  mentioned  by  Dr.  Szokalski,  who  always  confounded 
blue  and  red.     (Ibid.) 

18.  Mary  Bishop. —  A  most  interesting  case,  in  which  the  defect 
was  temporary,  being  induced  by  (or  at  least  accompanying)  partial 
amaurosis.     {America?i  Journal  Medical  Sciences,  vol,  xxvi.  p.  277.) 

Dr.  Hays  remarks  that  several  cases  of  this  natural  defect  have 
come  under  his  notice.     He  is  the  editor  of  th^  Journal. 

These  eighteen  are  all  the  cases  mentioned  in  the  scientific  works 
which  I  have  consulted.  I  proceed  to  notice  several  others  within 
my  personal  knowledge,  some  of  them  in  my  own  family.  The 
initials  are  not  in  all  cases  the  true  ones. 

1.  John  Adams,  a  preceptor  of  Leicester  Academy. —  One  even- 
ing during  the  period  when  fashion  required  a  bow  of  ribbon,  cor- 
responding in  color  with  the  garment,  upon  the  lower  extremity  of 
each  side  of  the  pantaloons,  this  gentleman  was  engaged  for  an 
evening  party.  The  tailor  was  remiss,  the  new  garment  did  not 
arrive  in  season,  and  the  preceptor  called  upon  the  knight  of  the 
shears.  It  was  complete  with  the  exception  of  the  ornament.  The 
owner  took  them,  purchased  some  ribbon  on  the  way  home,  and 
with  deft  fingers  arranged  the  bows  and  fastened  them  with  pins  in 
their  destined  situation.  His  duty  was  now  fulfilled,  his  mind  at 
rest.  The  fastidious  spirit  of  fashion  was  appeased,  the  shade  of 
Beau  Nash  honored,  and  the  dictum  of  the  living  Brummell  obeyed. 
What,  then,  should  prevent  the  most  worthy  preceptor  from  figuring 
(as  he  did)  at  the  soiree  in  a  pair  of  light-blue  pantaloons,  decorated, 
d  la  mode  de  la  Legion  d'Honneur,  with  bows  most  magnificent  in 
size  and  glaringly  red  in  their  color  ? 

2.  C.  D. —  He  confounds  green,  red,  and  brown.  A  young  man, 
color-blind,  purchased   a  piece  of  light-blue  cassimere  for  a  pair  of 


i845  347 

pantaloons,  and  a  skein  of  pink  silk  with  which  to  make  them.  Hav- 
ing carried  these  to  a  "  tailoress  "  (the  wife  of  C.  D.),  she  opened 
them,  and,  perceiving  the  incongruity,  asked  the  young  man  if  he 
could  not  procure  silk  more  nearly  to  match  the  cassimere.  Some- 
what astonished,  he  took  up  the  silk,  scrutinized  it  and  the  cloth, 
and,  throwing  it  down  upon  the  latter  with  an  air  of  the  most  perfect 
confidence  and  assurance,  exclaimed,  "What  could  be  a  nearer 
match  ?  "  The  tailoress,  together  with  her  husband,  C.  D.  (who  was 
present),  thereupon  enjoyed  a  hearty  laugh  at  the  expense  of  her 
employer.  In  a  few  days,  however,  an  incident  occurred  which 
proved  that  C.  D.  himself  could  distinguish  colors  hardly  better  than 
the  young  man.  He  spoke  of  "  a  little  red  dog,"  but  the  canine  race 
in  the  nineteenth  century  rarely  rejoice  in  a  roseate  or  carmine  hue. 
It  was  no  more  red  than  the  pink  silk  was  blue.  The  purchaser 
now  enjoyed  his  turn  of  risibility. 

3.  Z.  G. —  He  confounded  red  and  green. 

4.  R.  M.  had  the  same  peculiarity  as  Z.  G.  He  was  for  many 
years  a  minister  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  dressed  in  drab 
throughout,  except  his  cravat,  which  was  invariably  of  a  brownish 
red,  the  "  bandanna  "  so  much  used  in  days  gone  by.  He  believed 
it  to  correspond  with  his  other  garments. 

5.  J.  M.,  a  young  man  of  seventeen  years.  —  I  was  passing  a 
few  weeks  during  the  early  summer  in  the  country ;  and  this  young 
man,  together  with  his  sister,  stopped  at  the  same  place  as  myself. 
I  one  day  accompanied  him  upon  a  long  ramble  through  the  neigh- 
boring fields  and  woods.  At  length,  upon  arriving  at  a  partial  open- 
ing in  an  otherwise  dense  forest,  we  found  a  portion  of  the  ground 
most  abundantly  covered  with  the  wintergreen,  or  checkerberry,  the 
Gaultheria  prociimbeyis  of  the  botanists.  Being  fatigued,  we  sat  down 
in  the  midst  of  it,  where  the  berries  were  as  numerous  as  the  leaves, 
peering  out  from  beneath  them  by  tens  of  thousands,  and  presenting 
their  round  and  rosy  cheeks  to  the  blessed  light.  One  would  have 
believed  that  no  person,  unless  he  were  blind  or  marvellously  near- 
sighted, could  stand  even  at  the  distance  of  ten  feet  and  direct  his 
eyes  towards  this  prolific  bed  without  beholding  them  in  myriads. 
But,  as  I  soon  discovered,  my  companion  was  obhged  either  to  place 
his  head  very  near  the  ground  or  to  take  hold  of  the  leaves  with  one 
hand  and  feel  under  them  with  the  other  to  procure  the  berries,  yet 
his  eyes  were  not  myopic.     Immediately  suspecting  that  an  inability 


348  AMERICAN    CASES    OF    COLOR-BLINDNESS 

to  distinguish  colors  was  the  cause  of  his  difficulty,  I  commenced  a 
conversation  with  him  upon  the  subject  of  colors  in  general,  without 
alluding  to  my  suspicion.  I  then  picked  some  of  the  green  and  some 
of  the  red  leaves  of  the  Gaultheria,  and  with  these,  the  berries,  grass, 
and  other  leaves,  made  a  series  of  comparisons  and  contrasts,  suffi- 
ciently apparent  to  ordinary  vision,  but  they  were  all  alike  in  color 
to  my  companion.  Upon  returning  to  the  house,  and  when  in  the 
presence  of  his  sister,  I  placed  a  bright  scarlet  bandanna  handker- 
chief upon  a  green  table-cover,  and  asked  him  the  difference  of  the 
two.  He  asserted  most  positively  that  there  was  no  difference,  to 
the  utter  astonishment  of  his  sister  ;  for  neither  he  nor  any  of  his 
family  had  ever  suspected  the  defect. 

6.  U.  R. —  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  first  found  that  he  could 
not  distinguish  colors,  thinking  a  bright  scarlet  tape  exactly  to  cor- 
respond with  a  steel-blue  ruler. 

7.  Mrs.  A.  —  When  merino  shawls  with  broad,  flowered  borders 
were  in  fashion,  a  merchant  in  the  country  purchased  a  lot  which 
were  soon  disposed  of,  with  the  exception  of  one.  The  border  of 
this  was  so  pale,  dingy,  and  ugly  that  it  remained  on  hand  a  long 
time.  The  merchant  had  begun  to  suspect  that  he  should  be  com- 
pelled to  place  the  amount  of  its  cost  in  the  account  of  profit  and 
loss,  when  Mrs.  A.  appeared  as  a  customer.  She  was  fairly  charmed 
with  the  beauty  of  the  border,  thought  it  as  handsome  as  any  she 
ever  saw,  and  purchased  the  shawl  at  its  full  price. 

8.  J.  W.,  a  man  thirty-five  years  of  age.  Green,  red,  and  brown 
are  said  to  appear  alike  to  him. 

9.  Mr.  A. —  A  young  man  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

10.  A  gentleman  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

As  will  appear  from  an  inspection  of  the  first  series  of  cases,  the 
inability  to  distinguish  colors  prevails  in  certain  families,  and  appears 
to  be  hereditary.  Mr.  Harris  had  two  brothers  defective  like  himself, 
but  the  vision  of  his  parents  and  of  two  other  brothers  and  sisters 
was  normal.  Scott's  father  and  maternal  uncle,  one  sister,  and  two 
of  her  sons  had  the  defect ;  while  another  sister  and  his  own  two  sons 
were  free  from  it.  Tucker's  maternal  grandfather  and  a  brother  of 
Dr.  Dalton  had  the  same  defect.  In  one  of  Nicholl's  cases  the 
mother  and  father  and  his  four  sisters  were  free  from  it,  but  his 
mother's  father  had  it.  This  last  had  two  brothers  and  one  sister. 
One  brother  had  the   defect,   the  others  not.      In    the   other  case 


1845  349 

several  of  the  family  were  similarly  affected.  Dr.  Hays  says, 
"  We  know  of  a  family  in  this  country  similarly  circumstanced."*  Dr. 
Elliotson,  in  his  "  System  of  Physiology,"  remarks  that  in  families 
in  which  the  peculiarity  is  hereditary  it  sometimes  overleaps  one 
generation.  This  was  the  fact  in  one  of  the  cases  related  by 
Dr.  NichoU,  as  well  as  in  that  of  Robert  Tucker.  Another  example 
will  be  presented  hereafter. 

In  none  of  the  cases  hitherto  published  do  we  find  the  peculiarity 
prevailing  to  so  great  an  extent  (in  any  family)  as  it  does  among  my 
own  kindred.  My  maternal  grandfather  and  two  of  his  brothers 
were  characterized  by  it,  and  among  his  descendants  there  are  seven- 
teen persons  in  whom  it  is  found.  I  have  not  extended  my  observa- 
tions among  the  collateral  branches  of  the  family,  but  have  heard  of 
one  individual  in  one  of  them  who  was  similarly  affected. 

Nothing  is  known  of  the  first  of  five  generations  in  regard  to 
color-blindness.  In  the  second,  of  a  family  consisting  of  seven 
brothers  and  eight  sisters,  three  of  the  brothers,  one  of  whom  was 
my  grandfather,  had  the  defect  in  question.  In  the  third  generation 
(the  children  of  this  grandfather),  three  brothers  and  six  sisters, 
there  was  no  trace  of  the  defect.  This  forms  the  instance  alluded 
to  above,  in  which  the  peculiarity  overleaped  one  generation.  In 
the  fourth  generation  the  first  family  is  composed  of  five  brothers 
and  four  sisters,  and  two  brothers  have  the  defect.  In  the  second 
there  was  but  one  child,  a  daughter,  whose  vision  was  normal.  In 
the  third  there  are  seven  brothers,  of  whom  four  have  the  defect ; 
in  the  fifth,  seven  sisters  and  three  brothers,  in  all  of  whom  the 
vision  is  perfect  in  this  respect ;  in  the  sixth,  four  brothers  and  five 
sisters,  of  whom  two  brothers  and  two  sisters  have  the  defect ;  in 
the  seventh,  two  brothers  and  three  sisters,  both  of  the  former  hav- 
ing the  defect.  In  the  eighth  there  was  no  issue,  and  in  the  ninth 
there  are  two  sisters,  both  of  them  able  to  appreciate  colors. 
Thus,  of  twenty-four  males  and  twenty-eight  females,  a  total  of  fifty- 
two  persons,  in  the  fourth  generation  the  peculiarity  is  found  in 
thirteen  males  and  two  females,  fifteen  in  all,  or  about  three-tenths 
of  the  whole  number.  Seventeen  of  the  persons  in  this  generation 
are  married,  and  the  whole  number  of  their  children  is  fifty-three. 
Many  of  them  are  very  young,  some  of  them  not  living ;  and,  as  the 
defective  perception  has  been  detected  in  but  two  of  the  families, 

*  American  Journal  Medical  Sciences,  vol.  xxvi.  p.  283. 


35©  AMERICAN    CASES    OF    COLOR-BLINDNESS 

those  alone  are  placed  in  the  chart  as  the  fifth  generation.  In  one 
of  these  families,  consisting  of  three  brothers  and  three  sisters,  one 
of  the  brothers  has  the  defect ;  and  in  the  other,  a  male,  an  only 
child,  is  similarly  affected. 

Of  the  twenty  individuals  marked  as  having  the  peculiarity,  but 
fifteen  are  now  living,  and  these  so  widely  scattered  that  it  has  been 
impossible  for  me  to  make  anything  like  a  series  of  similar  observa- 
tions in  their  several  cases.  I  believe,  however,  I  am  warranted  in 
saying  that  in  every  instance  there  was  an  inability  to  distinguish 
between  red  and  green, —  two  colors  almost  as  dissimilar,  to  ordi- 
nary vision,  as  black  and  white.  Instances  of  this  are  mentioned  in 
each  of  the  first  two  series  of  cases  given  above,  and  I  know  many 
anecdotes  illustrating  the  same  in  the  third  series. 

Several  young  men,  among  whom  was  one  who  could  not  distin- 
guish colors,  were  conversing  upon  the  defect,  when  the  latter  was 
asked  if  he  could  tell  the  color  of  a  neighboring  corn-barn.  "  Oh, 
that,"  said  he,  "  is  evidently  red."  The  man  for  once  was  right, 
although  it  is  probable  that  he  was  aware  of  the  fact  that  such  build- 
ings are  never  painted  green  in  that  section  of  the  country ;  and  he 
would  have  come  off  well,  had  he  not  attempted  to  demonstrate  his 
position  even  beyond  a  necessary  Q.  E.  D.  "It  is  evidently  red," 
said  he  ;  "  but  I'll  tell  you  what  it  resembles :  it  looks  precisely  the 
color  of  yonder  pine-tree."  Rich  and  variegated  as  are  the  au- 
tumnal forests  of  America,  yet  neither  native  author  nor  sage  and 
sagacious  traveller  from  the  Old  World  has  ever  given  them  credit  for 
a  rubicund  fir-tree.  And,  doubtless,  the  stern  and  sturdy  McGregors, 
while  singing  to  the  honor  and  blessing  of  the  "evergreen  pine,"  the 
emblematic  "  saint "  of  Clan  Alpine,  never  dreamed  of  the  day  in 
which  its  verdant  hue  would  be  pronounced  identical  with  that  of 
a  granary  smeared  with  Spanish  brown. 

A  child  ran  into  the  room  of  his  grandmother,  where  scraps  of 
variously  colored  paper  were  lying  upon  the  floor.  "  Oh,"  exclaimed 
he,  in  childish  joy,  "here's  some  red  paper,"  and  immediately  col- 
lected all  the  pieces  of  green.  When  he  became  old  enough  to  wield 
a  pencil,  he  manifested  some  skill  in  drawing;  but  the  yellow  bears, 
and  the  black  birds  of  paradise,  and  the  green  men,  and  the  ladies 
with  green  cheeks,  red  eyes,  and  blue  hair,  that  were  brought  into 
existence  by  his  truly  original  genius,  would  have  astonished  Paul 
Potter,  confounded  Correggio,  and  made  Titian,  Guido,  and  Raphael 


i84S  351 

believe  they  had  mistaken  their  calling.  Such  specimens  of  human- 
ity as  emanated  from  his  pencil  would  have  ruined  the  glorious 
dream  of  the  youthful  Michel  Angelo  Buonarotti. 

Another  boy,  when  picking  or  attempting  to  pick  some  straw- 
berries, asked  of  his  companion  the  best  method  of  ascertaining  if 
the  berries  were  ripe,  adding  that  he  "  always  took  hold  of  each 
h&cx^,  pinched  \\.,  and,  if  it  were  soft,  picked  it,"  therefrom  supposing 
it  to  be  ripe. 

A  third  experienced  the  same  difficulty  in  picking  strawberries, 
the  berries  of  the  Gaultheria,  etc. ;  and  the  consequent  want  of  suc- 
cess in  his  berrying  expeditions  was  the  source  of  much  youthful 
affliction.  In  later  years  he  purchased  a  sleigh  which  was  painted 
dark  green  on  the  outside  and  a  bright  vermilion  red  within.  After 
it  had  been  in  use  several.,  years,  some  incidental  allusion  was  made 
to  its  colors,  when  he  remarked  that  he  had  never  suspected  that  it 
was  not  of  the  same  color  throughout. 

To  many  of  those  who  have  this  anomaly  of  vision  it  appears  that 
red,  green,  brown,  and  even  drab,  appear  identical,  and  look  to  them 
nearly  of  the  same  hue  as  a  dingy  brown  or  mud-color  does  to  those 
whose  perception  of  coloring  is  accurate. 

A  young  gentleman  of  social  tastes  and  habits  could  never  detect 
beauty  in  a  lady  having  one  of  the  most  important  elements  of  that 
characteristic, —  rosy  cheeks.  The  rouge  of  the  toilet  and  the  carna- 
tion redolent  of  ruddy  health  were,  to  his  warped  optics,  mere  daubs 
of  muddy  brown. 

An  elderly  man  who  lived  in  the  country  was  called  on  by  some 
neighbors  who  were  "breaking  out"  the  roads  after  a  violent  snow- 
storm. Being  told  that  an  ox  had  hurt  his  foot,  and  was  bleeding 
profusely,  he  followed  the  track  where  were  thousands  of  bright 
scarlet  spots  on  the  white  snow.  Then  he  told  his  neighbors  they 
were  mistaken,  the  spots  were  nothing  but  traces  of  mud,  thrown  up 
from  the  ground  beneath. 

One  of  the  persons  mentioned  in  my  list  of  ten  (J.  W.  or  J.  M.) 
was  the  poet  Whittier,  to  whom  I  shall  again  allude.  He  was  visit- 
ing an  acquaintance  of  local  reputation  as  an  amateur  horticulturist, 
and  upon  the  centre-table  stood  a  vase  of  the  most  choicely  selected 
dahlias.  Among  them  was  one  larger  and  more  perfect  than  the 
rest,  its  color  white,  but  the  borders  of  its  petals,  like  the  clouds  of 
an  American  sunset,  tipped   with  a  gorgeous  red, —  a  magnificent 


352 


WHITTIER    A    COLOR-BLIND 


flower,  at  the  acme  of  bloom  and  coloring.  Mr.  Whittier's  attention 
being  called  to  the  bouquet,  he  looked  rather  indifferently  (for  a 
poet,  whose  genius  seems  allied  to  flowers),  thought  the  dahlias  very 
well, —  indeed,  some  of  them  were  "  quite  pretty."  Then,  selecting 
the  flower  described,  he  remarked  that  it  would  be  "  very  pretty, 
but  the  edges  of  the  petals  looked  as  if  it  had  been  frost-bitten  or 
dropped  in  the  mud."  He  says  that,  before  knowing  that  his  power 
of  perceiving  colors  was  imperfect,  he  always  wondered  that  people 
should  talk  of  "glorious  sunsets"  or  "beautiful  sunsets";  for  he 
could  detect  neither  beauty  nor  glory  in  them.  Moreover,  that 
model  of  perfect  beauty,  the  rainbow,  whose  delicate  tints. 

Shade  unperceived,  so  softening  into  shade, 

delight  the  ordinary  eye,  appears  to  Whittier  but  different  shades 
of  one  color,  and  that  a  dingy  brown.  The  prismatic  arch,  in  this 
poet's  eye,  degenerates  into  a  "  Charles's  wain  "  of  mud.  Yet  from 
his  writings  no  evidence  of  this  peculiarity  of  vision  can  be  detected. 
The  poet  throws  his  gossamer  veil  of  ideality  before  the  vision  of 
the  vian,  converting  his  sombre  world  into  a  paradise  like  that  of 
the  Persian. 

As  not  quite  alien  to  our  subject,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  Whit- 
tier is  deficient  in  another  faculty  which,  at  first  view,  would  seem  to 
be  necessary  to  the  true  poet.  Although  he  has  music  in  his  soul, 
yet  he  has  not  "a  musical  ear."  He  cannot  distinguish  one  tune  or 
air  from  another ;  yet  his  poetry  is  not  deficient  in  perfect  cadence, 
harmony,  and  rhythm.  This  apparently  inconsistent  union  of  high 
poetical  genius  with  an  inability  to  distinguish  color  or  tune  must 
be  considered  a  most  wonderful  psychological  phenomenon. 

Another  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance  in  whom  this  peculiarity 
exists  is  a  well-known  professor  in  one  of  the  prominent  medical 
schools  of  the  United  States.  His  poetical  talents  are  such  that, 
had  he  immolated  to  them  the  truths  of  natural  science,  he  might 
undoubtedly  have  gained  a  reputation  no  less  extensive  and  no  less 
amply  deserved  than  that  of  the  author  just  mentioned.  In  him, 
also,  the  inability  to  appreciate  musical  sounds  is  coexistent  with 
that  to  distinguish  colors. 

In  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  my  brother  he  states  that  his  ear 
was  similarly  defective,  and  it  may  be  asserted  of  the  whole  family 
that  they  are  no  less  generally  characterized  by  this  peculiarity  of 


1^45  353 

organization  than  for  color-blindness.  In  some  of  the  branches, 
however,  where  there  was  a  high  degree  of  musical  talent  inherited 
frotn  the  other  side,  several  of  the  individuals  have  it ;  and  among 
them  are  two  who  cannot  distinguish  colors,  yet  have  a  most  delicate 
"musical  ear,"  and  are  remarkably  quick  at  "catching  a  tune." 

In  no  work  that  I  have  consulted  is  the  alliance  or  simultaneous 
existence  of  these  two  defects  mentioned.  Other  examples  in  less 
distinguished  persons  occur  to  me.  Defective  vision  being  under 
discussion  at  a  social  party  where  I  was,  a  young  man  present 
selected  two  figures  in  the  carpet  which  to  him  appeared  precisely 
aUke.  One  of  them  was,  in  fact,  composed  of  different  shades  of 
green,  the  other  of  similar  shades  of  brown,  or  "butternut"  color. 
Another  gentleman  purchased  a  piece  of  red  flannel,  supposing  it  to 
be  brown ;  and  that  there  is  identity  of  resemblance,  in  some  in- 
stances, between  red,  green,  and  drab,  has  been  shown  by  the  anec- 
dote of  the  Quaker  minister.  An  elderly  man,  also  a  Quaker, 
accustomed  to  dress  in  drab,  being  in  want  of  a  new  coat,  selected 
cloth  that  accorded  with  his  taste,  but,  when  the  draper  was  about 
to  cut  it  off,  found  that  it  was  marked  "green."  Again,  having  a 
drab  overcoat  in  the  hands  of  his  tailor,  he  purchased  a  green  lining 
to  match  it.  A  brother  of  this  last-mentioned  Friend  bought  drab 
cloth  for  a  coat  and  a  red  material  for  lining,  supposing  them  to  be 
the  same  color. 

A  man  with  this  defect  kept  a  shop  in  the  country,  where  a  lady 
one  day  asked  for  some  "  quaUty  "  binding.  Several  pieces  were 
then  lying  in  view  on  the  shelves.  His  customer  was  asked  which 
she  would  have.  "The  red."  "Well,  which.?"  She  answered  as 
before,  "  The  red."  A  third  time  was  his  question  put,  in  the  hope 
that  some  specification  other  than  that  of  color  would  be  given.  The 
customer,  beginning  to  think  herself  trifled  with,  cut  him  short  with, 
"  Why,  you  fool,  the  red."  The  man  extricated  himself  by  taking 
down  all  the  colors  (as  he  ought  at  first  to  have  done)  and  allowing 
her  to  select. 

A  boy  of  fourteen,  having  to  speak  of  a  domestic  fowl  upon  his 
father's  farm,  described  her  as  "the  yellow  hen  with  a  blue  tail."  In 
after  years,  being  rallied  on  this  combination  of  colors,  he  was  some- 
what piqued,  and  declared,  with  much  positiveness,  "  If  the  tail  was 
not  blue,  it  was  pink."  Several  of  my  acquaintance  having  this 
peculiarity  believe  that  they  have  improved  by  practice.    Some  main- 


354  CASE    OF    W.   B.   EARLE 

tain  stoutly  that  they  can  perceive  colors  as  accurately  as  anybody ; 
and  I  have  known  one  or  two  to  declare,  like  some  of  the  insane, 
that  they  are  right,  and  the  rest  of  us  wrong.  There  is  thus  a 
delicacy  (very  unphilosophical,  to  be  sure)  at  having  the  defect 
alluded  to ;  and  some  are  particularly  sensitive  when  brought  to 
judge  of  matters  of  color,  lest  they  expose  themselves,  like  the  shop- 
keeper. 

The  Case  of  Dr.  EarWs  Brother. 

I  have  found  illustrations  of  this  defect  in  one  of  my  brothers  (it 
exists  in  two).  From  notes  which  I  took  of  his  case  several  years 
since,  I  extract  the  following  :  — 

Red  and  green  appear  ahke  to  him.  So  do  green,  brown,  and  olive  ; 
pink,  violet,  and  pale  blue ;  blue  and  lilac ;  and  light  green  and  drab. 
He  perceives  but  three  colors,  yellow,  orange,  and  blue,  in  the  rain- 
bow. The  yellow  predominates,  the  blue  is  very  faint.  The  orange 
and  yellow  are  but  different  shades  of  the  same  color,  so  that,  in 
reality,  it  is  but  the  yellow  and  blue  that  he  detects  in  the  prismatic 
arch.  He  can  see  but  little  difference  between  the  summer  and  the 
autumnal  foliage  of  the  forests.  For  many  years  he  has  cultivated 
with  much  assiduity  the  power  of  detecting  colors,  and  evidently  im- 
proved therein.  These  extracts  are  from  a  letter  received  from  him 
a  few  days  since  :  — 

.  "  The  general  appearance  of  the  rainbow  to  me  is  that  of  an  object 
striped  with  three  colors,  gradually  blended  into  each  other,  and 
themselves  varying  in  their  shades.  I  am  unable  to  say  whether, 
with  a  good  prism,  I  could,  using  care,  distinguish  and  mark  the 
seven  distinct  colors  produced  by  it. 

"  As  a  general  rule,  however,  it  seems  true  that  the  difference 
between  me  and  others  is  more  a  want,  on  my  part,  of  a  quick  and 
vivid  perception  of  distinctions  than  an  absolute  inability  to  discern 
them ;  for  I  rarely  find  two  colors  which  appear  different  to  others,  if 
placed  in  juxtaposition,  without  my  being  able  to  perceive  that  they 
differ.  Yet  the  impression  upon  my  mind  is  so  imperfect  that,  on 
seeing  them  again,  at  least  in  some  cases,  I  might  be  unable  to  give 
their  respective  names  correctly.  In  some  few  instances,  where 
colors  are  really  different,  perhaps  I  might  not  discern  that  difference 
if  they  were  placed  side  by  side.  This  would  be  where  the  ground 
color  of  both  was  the  same,  but  one  of  them  slightly  tinged  with  red, 


i845  355 

such  as  pale  blue  and  lilac  of  about  equal  depth  of  color,  or  deep 
blue  and  violet. 

"  I  can  always  distinguish  correctly  a  full  blue,  a  scarlet,  or  a  yellow, 
and  generally  orange  also,  if  near  my  eyes  and  examined  with  care. 
/  ca7i  discern  yellow  and  blue  of  moderate  depth  at  a  great  distance. 
But  at  any  considerable  distance  I  might  ?iot  know  whether  a  red  was 
really  a  red  or  a  deep  greeji,  brown,  or  olive.  I  cannot,  in  general, 
know  whether  some  olive  cloths  are  really  olive  or  brown ;  but  there 
are  some  browns  that  I  can  be  sure  of  as  being  of  that  color. 

"  I  cannot  see  red  apples  or  red  cherries  or  red  strawberries  at 
any  considerable  distance,  so  as  to  distinguish  them  from  the  foliage  ; 
or,  where  I  do  distinguish  them,  it  is  not  so  clearly  as  I  see  the  green 
ones.  Red,  I  think,  appears  brighter  and  plainer  to  me  by  candle- 
light than  in  the  day.  So  does  blue,  but  yellow  more  faint  than  by 
daylight.  I  sometimes  have  mistaken  a  light  green  for  a  drab.  The 
red  which  has  some  mixture  of  yellow  is  more  vivid  to  my  eyes :  that 
which  is  crimson,  or  nearly  so,  resembles  blue  to  some  degree.  Of 
the  three  principal  colors,  yellow  is  most  distinct.  All  colors  are 
agreeable  to  me,  though  I  suspect  red  is  less  so  than  to  people  in 
general.  Those  red  flowers  which  have  a  tinge  either  of  yellow  or 
blue  are,  I  think,  more  pleasing  than  those  which  are  of  a  pure  red. 

"  In  the  vast  variety  of  compound  colors,  where  there  is  a  slight 
predominance  of  the  blue  over  the  red,  but  the  degree  of  illumination 
equal,  I  am,  in  general,  unable  to  tell  whether  the  blue  or  red  tinge 
predominates,  and,  of  course,  am  liable  to  miscall  the  names.  I  find, 
however,  that  my  perception  of  shades  has  improved  by  practice,  as 
it  has  of  musical  notes,  in  which  I  was  deficient ;  and  I  am  disposed 
to  think  that,  with  application,  I  might  perfect  myself  so  as  to  be 
rarely  mistaken." 

That  he  has  improved  to  some  extent  I  have  not  the  least  doubt; 
but  the  perfection  which  he  believes  attainable  is,  probably,  altogether 
Utopian.  Some  years  since,  at  a  time  when  he  was  more  positive 
than  at  present  (for  years  have,  as  usual,  tempered  assurance  in 
doubtful  matters  of  philosophy)  that  he  had  learned  to  distinguish 
colors,  he  was  conversing  upon  the  subject  in  company,  and  asserted 
his  belief  that  he  could  discriminate  between  red  and  green.  At  that 
moment  a  child  with  green  morocco  shoes  entered  the  room.  "  If 
that  be  true,"  said  one  of  the  guests,  "  pray  tell  us  the  color  of  that 
child's  shoes."     "Pooh!"  said  he:  "those  are  evidently  red.^'' 


3S6 


OTHER    CASES 


A  case  similar  to  the  last  is  this :  Two  young  men,  both  unable 
to  distinguish  colors,  were  requested,  by  the  sister  of  one  of  them,  to 
purchase  a  skein  of  green  sewing-silk ;  'and,  fearing  that  they  might 
forget  or  mistake  the  color,  she  directed  their  attention  to  the 
morocco  facing  of  the  cushions  to  their  gig  as  being  precisely  the 
shade  she  wanted.  On  their  way  to  the  city  the  question  of  the 
color  of  the  silk  became  the  subject  of  serious  and  deliberate  debate; 
and  it  was  decided  that  the  sister  had  been  greatly  mistaken  in  say- 
ing that  the  morocco  of  the  cushion  was  green.  Once  in  the  city, 
they  went — mutual  mentors  —  "  a-shopping."  One  of  them  asked 
for  some  "  green  sewing-silk,"  hoping  that  a  package  of  that  color 
alone  would  be  handed  down.  Alas  for  the  pleasures  of  hope  !  A 
large  package,  flaunting  as  many  colors  as  the  coat  of  Joseph,  was 
displayed  upon  the  counter.  The  customers,  unwilling  to  expose 
their  defect,  were  in  a  quandary.  At  this  critical  juncture  some 
blessed  incident  directed  the  attention  of  the  clerk  another  way. 
One  of  them  "  took  time  by  the  forelock,"  seized  a  skein  which  he 
supposed  to  be  green,  and  stuffed  it,  unwrapped  and  "  all  in  a  muss," 
into  his  pocket.  When  the  clerk  returned,  "  I  have  taken  a  skein," 
said  the  young  man  :  "  what  is  the  price  ?  "  "  Was  it  a  large  skein  or 
a  small  one  ? "  inquired  the  clerk.  The  young  man  began  to  think 
that  the  silk  was  no  xA.riadne's  thread,  since  it  involved  him  more 
deeply  in  difficulties  instead  of  showing  him  the  way  out.  Deter- 
mined not  to  withdraw  it  from  his  pocket,  since,  for  all  he  knew,  it 
might  be  red,  brown,  drab,  or  almost  any  color,  he  quietly  answered 
"  A  large  one,"  and  paid  the  increased  price  accordingly.  Fortu- 
nately, when  they  returned,  the  silk  proved  to  be  green. 

These  cases  are  mostly  given  without  the  true  names.  I  may 
add,  however,  that  my  grandfather,  William  Buffum,  of  Smithfield, 
R.I.,  had  this  defect,  and  that  the  father  of  my  uncle  Thomas  Buf- 
fum's  wife  could  not  distinguish  colors,  so  that  both  grandfathers  of 
my  cousins  Horace,  Peleg,  John,  etc.,  Buffum,  were  in  this  predica- 
ment. In  June,  1846,  while  Dr.  D.  T,  Brown,  of  the  Utica  Asylum 
for  the  Insane,  and  Dr.  Rufus  Woodward,  of  the  Worcester  Hospital, 
were  with  me  in  the  garden  of  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum,  picking 
strawberries,  I  detected  this  defect  in  Dr.  Brown.  Melatiah  Green, 
a  brother  of  Dr.  John  Green,  of  Worcester,  cannot  well  distinguish 
colors.  The  cases  of  my  own  brothers  and  of  Dr.  Elisha  Bartlett,  a 
professor  in  Dartmouth  College,  have  been  cited  above. 


i84S  357 

Causes  of  CoIoi--b!i?idness. 

The  question  may  now  be  asked,  What  is  the  cause  of  this  defect 
in  the  discrimination  of  color  ?  I  might  answer,  in  the  words  of  the 
moral  poet :  — 

Presumptuous  man !  the  reason  wouldst  thou  find 
Why  formed  so  weak,  so  little,  and  so  blind  ? 
First,  if  thou  canst,  the  harder  reason  guess, 
Why  formed  no  weaker,  blinder,  and  no  less. 

There  are  those  who  maintain  that  there  is  no  standard  for  the 
perception  of  colors,  no  criterion  by  which,  in  comparing  the  powers 
of  one  individual  with  those  of  another,  we  may  say  one  is  right  and 
another  wrong.  "  There  is  among  mankind,"  say  they,  "  as  great  a 
diversity  of  perception  in  regard  to  colors  as  there  is  of  mental 
capacity.  Furthermore,  we  have  no  evidence  that,  in  any  two 
individuals  whose  vision  is  called  perfect,  the  impression  of  any 
color  is  identical :  that  which  is  green  to  the  '  mind's  eye '  of  one 
may  be  red  to  that  of  another,  and  so  of  any  two  colors." 

Strictly  speaking,  the  position  here  advanced  is  true.  No  person 
can  describe  the  impressions  received  by  the  mind  through  the  or- 
gans of  vision:  no  one  can  "give  color  to  an  idea."  The  questions 
involved  can  never  be  positively  determined  in  the  present  state  of 
human  knowledge  and  with  our  present  means  of  observation  and  in- 
vestigation. They  are  beyond  the  reach  of  an  exj>erimentum  cruets. 
No  true  philosopher,  however,  would  resort  to  an  argument  of  this 
kind.  It  is  specious,  but  unsound ;  and  he  who  would  admit  it  must 
inevitably  become  involved  in  a  difficulty  with  reference  to  every  de- 
partment of  philosophy,  from  which  he  could  hardly  extricate  himself 
without  adopting  the  alleged  doctrine  of  Bishop  Berkeley,  that  "  all 
matter  is  but  ideal." 

Certain  rays  of  light,  impinging  upon  the  retina,  produce  an  effect 
which,  transmitted  to  the  sensorium  (whether  modified  or  not  we 
cannot  tell  in  its  passage  through  the  optic  nerve),  give  an  impres- 
sion or  perception  of  color  which  the  mass  of  mankind  are  consen- 
taneous in  calling  red.  As  the  anatomical  structure  and  the  func- 
tions concerned  in  this  process  are,  if  normal,  identical  in  different 
individuals,  it  is  rational  to  infer  that  the  results  will  be  similar,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  many  other  arguments  in  favor  of  their  being  so. 


358  THEORIES    OF    COLOR-BLINDNESS 

The  several  theories  which  have  been  promulgated  as  explanatory 
of  the  phenomenon  in  question  may  be  divided  into  two  classes  :  — 

1.  Those  which  place  the  cause  of  the  defect  in  the  apparatus  of 
vision. 

2.  Those  which  suppose  it  to  be  in  the  organ  of  perception. 

I.  (a)  Dr.  Dalton,  in  attempting  to  account  for  the  defect  as  exist- 
ing in  himself,  suggests  that  the  vitreous  humor  of  the  eye  is  tinged 
with  blue  and  absorbs  all  the  rays  of  red  light.  But,  as  was  accu- 
rately remarked  by  Dr.  Hays,  "this  is  a  mere  conjecture,  which 
is  not  confirmed  by  the  most  minute  examination  of  the  eye,  and 
does  not  even  explain  all  the  phenomena." 

{b)  Dr.  Young  attributes  the  defect  to  a  want  or  a  paralysis  of 
those  fibres  of  the  retina  whose  office  is  the  perception  of  red  light. 
The  basis  of  this  theory  is  the  mere  hypothesis  of  an  anatomical 
defect  or  a  pathological  condition  of  which  there  is  no  proof ;  and, 
as  is  also  observed  by  Dr.  Hays,  it  "  does  not  embrace  all  the  de- 
grees of  the  defect." 

{c)  Sir  David  Brewster  first  endeavored  to  explain  the  phenome- 
non by  supposing  that  the  eye  is  insensible  to  the  rays  of  light  at 
one  (the  most  refracted)  extreme  of  the  spectrum,  analogous  to  the 
ear,  which  in  some  persons,  as  demonstrated  by  Dr.  Wollaston,  is  not 
affected  by  the  notes  at  one  extremity  of  the  musical  scale.  This 
theory  would  account  for  but  a  small  part  of  the  phenomena  ob- 
served in  these  cases.  He  subsequently  promulgated  another,  less 
satisfactory  in  our  apprehension,  than  the  foregoing,  inasmuch  as 
(so  far  as  I  can  comprehend  it)  it  leaves  off  where  it  begins,  mak- 
ing the  reason  of  the  inability  to  distinguish  colors  the  "  blindness  to 
red  light." 

{d)  Mr.  Wardrop  supposes  the  defect  to  arise  from  a  greater  sus- 
ceptibility of  the  retina  to  the  influence  of  the  blue  and  yellow  rays, 
not  so  much,  it  would  seem,  from  an  abnormal  condition  of  the 
retina  itself  as  from  the  refractive  power  of  the  humors  by  which 
these  rays  are  brought  to  a  focus  more  perfectly  than  the  others 
upon  this  nervous  tissue. 

(e)  M.  Boys  de  Loury  believes  the  defect  a  consequence  of  an 
abnormal  structure  of  the  retina  or  the  optic  nerve,  placing  those 
organs  in  a  condition  similar  to  atrophy. 

Of  all  the  foregoing  theories,  there  is  no  one  to  which  it  may  not 
be  objected  either  that  it  is  merely  hypothetical  and  entirely  unsup- 


i845  359 

ported  by  proofs  or  that  it  does  not  include  all  varieties  of  the 
defect.  Hence  none  is  at  all  satisfactory.  We  now  proceed  to 
those  of  the  second  class. 

2  (a).  "I  am  inclined  to  suspect,"  says  Dugald  Stewart,  in  the 
third  chapter  of  his  "  Elements  of  the  Philosophy  of  the  Human 
Mind,"  "  that  the  greater  number  of  the  instances  of  the  supposed 
defects  of  sight  ought  to  be  rather  ascribed  to  a  defect  in  the  power 
of  conception,  probably  in  consequence  of  some  early  habit  of  inat- 
tention." 

(In  the  foregoing  letter  from  my  brother  a  similar  idea  is  advanced.) 

(J)).  "We  have  examined  with  some  attention,"  says  Sir  John 
W.  F.  Herschel,  "  a  very  eminent  optician,  whose  eyes  (or  rather  eye, 
he  having  lost  the  sight  of  one  by  accident)  have  this  peculiarity, 
and  have  satisfied  ourselves,  contrary  to  received  opinion,  that  all 
the  prismatic  rays  have  the  power  of  exciting  and  affecting  them 
with  the  sensation  of  light,  and  producing  distinct  vision,  so  that  the 
defect  arises  from  no  insensibility  of  the  retina  to  rays  of  any  par- 
ticular refrangibility  nor  to  any  coloring  matter  in  the  humors  of 
the  eye,  preventing  certain  rays  from  reaching  the  retina  (as  has 
been  ingeniously  supposed),  but  from  a  defect  in  the  sensorium,  by 
which  it  is  rendered  incapable  of  appreciating  exactly  those  differ- 
ences between  rays  on  which  their  color  depends."  Dr.  Dunglison, 
espousing  the  same  doctrine,  says,  in  his  "  Human  Physiology," 
"The  nerve  of  sight  is  probably  accurately  impressed;  and  the 
deficiency  is  in  the  part  of  the  brain  whither  the  impression  is  con- 
veyed, and  where  perception  is  effected." 

{c).  Dr.  Elliotson,  a  zealous  disciple  in  phrenology  of  Drs.  Gall 
and  Spurzheim,  says :  "In  all  the  cases  in  which  the  point  has  been 
examined,  the  part  of  the  cranium  under  which,  according  to  Gall, 
the  organ  for  judging  of  the  harmony  of  colors  is  placed,  is  fiat  or 
depressed.  I  have  seen  several  of  these  cases,  and  in  all  this  was 
the  fact."  Dr.  Hays  remarks  that  the  case  of  Mary  Bishop  favors 
the  phrenological  theory,  "her  affection  having  been  the  sequel  to 
an  attack  of  cerebral  disease." 

(d).  In  the  Annales  Medico-psycJiologiques  for  January,  1844, 
there  is  an  article  which  says:  "M.  Chevreuil  has  shown  that  there 
is  a  harmony  and  a  system  of  laws  in  colors  as  well  as  in  sounds ; 
that  there  are  false  colors,  as  there  are  false  notes,  which  shock  deli- 
cate natures,  and  colors  which,  like  certain  notes,  cannot  accompany 


360  DEGREES    OF    COLOR-BLIXDXESS 

each  other  without  profoundly  wounding.  It  is  not  necessary,  then, 
to  regard  the  incapacity  for  distinguishing  colors  as  the  constant 
result  of  an  alteration  of  the  retina  or  the  optic  nerve,  but  as  being 
often  the  effect  of  a  predisposition,  natural  or  acquired." 

The  four  theories  placed  in  the  second  class  are  but  modifications 
of  that  of  the  phrenologists.  However,  there  is  sufficient  difference 
between  them  to  justify  placing  them  separately.  Thus  Dr.  Elliot- 
son  believes  the  defect  to  arise  from  an  insufficient  development  of 
the  "  organ  of  color,"  while  the  theory  last  mentioned  attributes  it  to 
the  peculiar  combination  of  colors. 

In  the  interesting  report  of  the  case  of  Mary  Bishop,  already  men- 
tioned, Dr.  Isaac  Hays,  after  an  examination  of  all  the  detailed 
cases  upon  record,  arrives  at  the  following  conclusions :  — 

"  I.  As  a  natural  defect,  inability  to  distinguish  colors  may  exist 
in  different  degrees. 

"2.  In  the  worst  degree  the  individual  is  able  merely  to  distin- 
guish shades  :  the  perception  of  color  is  entirely  absent. 

"3.  In  the  next  degree  the  individual  can  distinguish  only  a 
single  color,  and  that  color  is  always  yellow. 

"  4.  We  may  consider  as  the  next  degree  of  this  defect  where  the 
individual  can  recognize  two  colors  only,  and  these  seem  to  be 
always  yellow  and  blue.  This  is  the  most  common  grade  of  the 
defect. 

"5.  It  seems  probable  that  individuals  who  are  able  to  recognize 
accurately  the  three  primitive  colors  can  also  distinguish  the  second- 
ary ones.  But  persons  whose  perception  of  red  is  imperfect  do  not 
accurately  discriminate  the  secondary  colors." 

When  Mary  Bishop  was  recovering  her  power  of  appreciating 
colors,  she  could  first  distinguish  yellow  alone,  like  those  under  the 
second  degree  above  mentioned.  She  soon  afterwards  became  able 
to  perceive  blue  also,  which  advanced  her  to  the  third  degree. 
While  in  the  latter  condition,  like  those  who  are  naturally  affected  to 
the  same  degree,  although  she  could  accurately  discriminate  yellow 
and  blue,  she  could  not  detect  green,  which  is  a  mixture  of  the  two. 

My  observation  thus  far  has  revealed  nothing  that  would  lead  me 
to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  these  deductions  by  Dr.  Hays.  All  the 
cases  which  I  have  now  for  the  first  time  published  might  be 
arranged  under  the  foregoing  heads,  most  of  them  under  the  fourth. 
It  may  be  proper  to  mention  in  this  connection  that,  in  one  young 


i845  361 

man  whose  case  T  have  given,  the  power  of  discriminating  colors  ap- 
pears to  be  very  variable.  At  times  it  would  seem  as  if  the  functions 
of  the  "organ  of  color"- — to  use  a  phrase  which  presupposes  the 
truth  of  an  undemonstrated  theory  —  were  performed  with  nearly  as 
great  a  degree  of  accuracy  as  in  those  who  can  make  the  most 
delicate  chromatic  distinctions,  while  at  others  he  makes  the  most 
absurd  mistakes.  It  was  he  who  first  discovered  that  sui  generis 
specimen  in  American  ornithology  (mentioned  by  neither  Wilson, 
Bonaparte,  nor  Audubon),  the  "yellow  hen  with  a  blue  tail."  It  is 
evident  that  the  colors  which  he  usually  confounds  appear  to  him  by 
candle-light  much  more  nearly  as  they  do  to  other  people  than  by 
daylight,  which  is  equally  true  in  some  of  my  other  cases.  The 
explanation  of  this  may  probably  be  found  in  the  fact  that  our  arti- 
ficial light  is  much  more  yellow  than  that  of  the  sun,  and  gives  to  the 
colors  usually  unrecognized  a  certain  degree  of  its  own  hue,  which 
is  perceived  by  all  who  have  the  defect  excepting  those  who  come 
under  the  "worst  degree"  of  Dr.  Hays.  Dr.  Elliotson  remarks  that 
the  defect  in  regard  to  color  is  found  more  frequently  among  men 
than  women.  This  is  supported  by  the  cases  coming  within  my 
personal  knowledge.  They  are  31  in  number,  of  which  28,  or  seven- 
eighths  of  all,  are  of  men.  In  the  family  of  Buffum,  represented 
genealogically,  there  are  20  persons  in  whom  the  defect  has  existed; 
and,  of  these,  18,  or  nine-tenths,  are  men.  And  this  disparity 
becomes  greater  if  the  proportion  of  each  sex  having  the  defect  or 
free  from  it  is  considered. 

The  defect  is  said  to  have  been  observed  in  both  myopic  and  far- 
seeing  eyes,  as  well  as  in  those  with  the  focal  point  at  the  ordinary 
distance ;  but  I  recall  no  near-sighted  person  among  those  of  my  ac- 
quaintance who  have  it. 


V.     Popular  Fallacies  in  regard  to  Insanity. 

(Written  in  1885.) 
Although  it  is  impossible  to  demonstrate  it  as  a  fact,  yet  all  the 
known  data  bearing  upon  the  subject  very  clearly  lead  to  the  infer- 
ence that  insanity  in  the  United  States  is  increasing,  not  merely 
absolutely,  in  correspondence  with  the  increase  of  population,  but 
relatively,  as  compared  with  the  number  of  inhabitants.  Fifty  years 
ago  the  writers  upon  the  subject  placed  the  ratio  of  the  insane  to 


362  POPULAR    IGNORANCE    OF    INSANITY 

the  whole  population  in  Massachusetts  at  i  in  1,000.  In  the  last 
national  census  if  is  shown  that  in  18S0  there  was  i  insane  person 
in  each  343  of  the  population  of  the  State.  Had  the  ratio  of  fifty 
years  ago  been  derived  from  a  census  as  carefully  taken  as  that  of 
1880,  it  might  be  assumed  as  a  demonstrated  proposition  that  insan- 
ity had  increased  nearly  threefold  within  the  last  half-century.  But 
that  first-mentioned  ratio  was  a  mere  estimate,  based  upon  very  im- 
perfect, insufficient,  and,  doubtless,  often  indefinite  or  inaccurate 
data,  and  hence  unworthy  of  reUance  as  a  truthful  standard  for  com- 
parison. 

But  under  existing  circumstances  even  the  present  number  of 
the  insane  in  the  Commonwealth  do  not  constitute  a  class  suffi- 
ciently large  to  enable  the  people  to  become  acquainted  with  their 
characters,  peculiarities,  habits,  and  propensities,  both  mental  and 
physical,  as  compared  or  contrasted  with  those  of  that  portion  of  the 
inhabitants  who,  by  common  consent,  are  regarded  as  sane.  Nearly 
three-fourths  of  them  are  in  hospitals,  and  a  large  part  of  the  re- 
maining fourth  in  almshouses  and  other  places  of  detention  or  sur- 
veillance, where  they  are  withdrawn  from  general  observation. 
Hence  the  present  generation  is  probably  less  acquainted  with  their 
characteristics  than  were  the  people  of  seventy-five  years  ago,  before 
the  special  institutions  for  their  care  had  been  called  into  existence, 
and  when  they  were  allowed,  to  a  much  larger  extent  than  at  present, 
to  associate  or  to  mingle  with  the  general  population.  As  a  necessary 
consequence  of  this  state  of  things,  the  public  mind  is  incapable  of 
so  far  comprehending  the  nature  of  mental  disorder  as  to  be  able  to 
discriminate  between  the  probable  and  the  improbable  in  relation  to 
the  conduct  and  the  language  of  the  insane  or  even  the  physical 
peculiarities  which  have  sometimes  been  attributed  to  them.  The 
disorder, —  not  to  say  "disease,"  inasmuch  as  disease  implies  the 
possibility  of  death, —  in  its  essential  nature,  and  even  in  its  relation 
to  the  conduct  and  the  practical  ability  of  those  who  are  afflicted 
with  it,  is  an  ever-abundant  and  an  inexplicable  mystery  to  per- 
sons who  are  constantly  surrounded  by  it,  and  who  are  consequently 
better  informed  than  any  others  in  regard  to  it.  How  much  more 
so  must  it  be  to  those  who  have  had  little  or  no  opportunity  to 
become  acquainted,  by  personal  observation,  with  its  manifesta- 
tions !  Still  clinging  to  the  traditional  idea  of  a  madhouse,  which, 
as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Hogarth  and  probably  very  much  farther. 


i88s  3^3 

was  derived  from  that  class  of  patients  who  were  the  most  insane 
and  the  most  demonstrative  in  both  language  and  eccentricity  or 
violence  of  conduct,  they  couple  with  it  the  mistaken  though  per- 
haps logical  notion  that  all  the  insane  are  so  distorted  in  mind  and 
perverted  in  body  that  they  constitute  a  class  of  beings  almost 
as  widely  separated  from  the  average  of  mankind  as  if  they  did 
not  belong  to  the  same  genus  or  race.  With  what  faciUty,  then, 
may  errors  in  regard  to  them  find  a  place  in  the  public  mind ! 
Having  little  or  no  positive  knowledge  of  them,  fancy,  imagination, 
and  the  love  of  the  marvellous  are  left  free  to  supply  the  place  of 
such  knowledge. 

I  have  been  led  into  this  train  of  reflection  by  the  perusal  of  some 
memoranda  of  popular  errors  entered  in  a  commonplace  book  upon 
my  ofifice  table,  to  which  I  shall  give  here  a  passing  notice.  It  is 
not  proposed  to  enter  at  large  upon  the  subject,  to  point  out  all  the 
contrasts  between  the  popular  impressions  in  regard  to  the  insane 
and  those  opinions  which  are  the  results  of  long  intercourse  with 
them.  Such  a  course  would  involve  too  much  time  and  space.  A 
glance  at  a  few  of  the  most  prominent  alone  can  here  be  permitted. 

Perhaps  no  one  point  in  the  general  belief  in  regard  to  the  in- 
mates of  the  institutions  for  the  insane  is  more  widely  prevalent  than 
that  they  are  unhappy,  wretched,  miserable.  In  reference  to  a  very 
few  and  wholly  exceptional  cases,  this  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  true. 
But  farther  than  that  it  is  untrue.  And  the  same  may  be  said  of 
any  class  or  collection  of  human  beings,  wherever  situated  and  in 
what  mental  condition  soever  they  may  be.  It  has  been  my  lot  to 
be  connected  with  each  of  five  such  institutions  sufficiently  long  to 
become  acquainted  with  its  patients ;  and,  judging  from  the  experi- 
ence thus  obtained,  and  writing  not  thoughtlessly  nor  hastily,  but 
with  all  due  deliberation,  it  is  my  opinion  that,  if  a  lasso  were 
thrown  around  the  first  four  hundred  and  seventy-six  adults  who 
might  be  met  at  any  time  upon  the  sidewalks  of  Northampton  or 
any  other  city,  the  amount  of  unhappiness  drawn  together  in  its  coil 
would  be  as  great  as  exists  among  the  four  hundred  and  seventy-six 
patients  to-day,  or  the  same  number  any  other  day,  within  the  walls 
of  this  Northampton  Hospital.  I  do  not  forget,  but  am  most  free  to 
acknowledge,  that  the  worst  wards  of  a  hospital  of  this  kind  present 
a  sad  spectacle,  even  to  persons  familiarized  with  it, —  a  very  sad 
spectacle  to  any  one  to  whom  it  is  an  unaccustomed  sight.     But  this 


364  THE    INSANE    OFTEN    SUFFER    LITTLE 

aspect  is  the  consequence  of  mental  impairment  and  bodily  deterio- 
ration, and  is  no  evidence  of  unliappiness  on  the  part  of  the  pa- 
tients. The  observer  derives  his  judgment  from  his  own  feelings 
and  emotions,  not  from  the  mental  and  moral  condition  of  the  per- 
sons around  him,  which,  particularly  if  he  be  a  casual  visitor,  he 
cannot  accurately  know.  It  is,  indeed,  true  that  among  the  inmates 
of  a  hospital  one  may  hear  more  expressions  indicative  of  unhappi- 
ness  than  among  the  same  number  of  sane  persons.  The  latter  are 
like  boilers  in  which  the  steam  is  repressed,  subjected  to  control, 
and  generally  used  only  as  dictated  by  prudence  and  good  judg- 
ment ;  while  the  former,  like  the  open,  boiling  pot,  permit  the  gener- 
ated steam  to  rise  directly  to  the  surface,  in  bubbles,  and  immedi- 
ately pass  away.  There  is  a  basis  of  truth  for  the  old  saying  that 
the  only  difference  between  a  sane  and  an  insane  man  is  that  the 
latter  speaks  what  he  thinks,  while  the  former  does  not.  It  is  the 
same,  let  it  be  remembered,  in  regard  to  feeling  and  emotion.  The 
insane  permit  them,  untrammelled,  at  once  to  appear  in  expression : 
the  sane  reduce  them  to  restraint  and  condemn  them  to  conceal- 
ment, either  temporary  or  perpetual. 

Among  the  classes  of  the  insane  of  which  the  subjects  most  pain- 
fully and  depressingly  impress  the  inexperienced  observer  are  the 
melancholiacs,  some  of  whom  are  continually  uttering  expressions 
of  self-condemnation  for  acts  or  "  sins  "  of  either  commission  or  of 
omission,  and  not  infrequently  of  both.  In  language,  in  tone  of 
speech,  in  facial  expression,  and  in  general  appearance,  they  some- 
times seem  to  embody  all  that  goes  to  make  up  the  sum  of  the 
extreme  of  human  mental  wretchedness  and  suffering.  And  yet, 
with  a  no  inconsiderable  part  of  these,  all  this  outside  show  of 
misery  is  simply  habit,  to  which  anything  like  real  feeling  is  an 
utter  stranger.  No  person  could  long  survive  the  reality  of  their 
apparently  intense  suffering.  But  their  health  is  not  impaired  by  it. 
There  are  some  who  even  thrive  upon  it.  At  meals  they  will  stop 
their  meanings  and  complaints,  and  pay  as  ample  a  compliment  as 
any  one  to  palatable  food.  At  night  they  will  retire,  and  sleep  as 
sound  as  the  healthy  but  wearied  laborer  until  morning.  But, 
when  the  meal  is  finished  and  the  morning  comes,  they  rise  only  to 
return  to  their  habitual  utterances  of  apparent  woe.  I  repeat  that 
all  this  external  show  of  sorrow  is,  in  many  instances,  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  a  morbid   habit,  which  has  become  essentially  auto- 


i885  365 

matic,  and  is  no  more  the  indication  of  actual  and  profound  affliction 
than  the  word  "  eschec,"  uttered  through  a  mechanical  contrivance 
by  Maelzel's  celebrated  chess-player,  was  the  indication  and  evidence 
of  an  adequate  intellectual  comprehension,  by  that  automaton,  of  the 
signification  of  what  it  uttered.  It  is  from  cases  like  these  that  the 
general  character  of  the  insane  is  too  often  judged. 

It  is  a  frequent  remark  that  to  an  insane  person  his  delusions  are 
realities.  This  is  undeniably  true,  so  far  as  his  mental  impression  of 
the  subject,  or  object,  of  that  delusion,  and  his  belief  in  it,  are  con- 
cerned. But  the  effect  of  that  delusion  upon  the  conduct  and  the 
physical  condition  of  him  who  has  it  is  often  far  from  being  identical 
with  that  which  must  necessarily  be  produced,  could  that  subjective 
delusion  become  an  objective  reality.  The  delusion,  as  a  delusion, 
is  a  reality ;  but  it  has  not  the  force  of  a  substantive  or  absolute 
reality.  No  proposition  in  Euclid  is  more  positively  demonstrated 
than  is  this,  by  the  cases  just  mentioned.  The  same  holds  good  with 
another  class,  one  of  which  is  the  subject  of  the  following  sketch. 

A  female  now  in  the  hospital*  often  tells  visitors  that  she  has 
millions  and  billions  of  children  "  up  in  the  canopy,"  —  an  imaginary 
apartment  of  the  house, —  and  that  persons  are  constantly  engaged 
in  murdering  them.  This  is  with  her  a  "  fixed  idea,"  a  permanent 
delusion.  It  had  possession  of  her  at  the  time  of  her  admission  in 
1858,  and  probably  some  yrars  before,  as  she  was  brought  from 
another  hospital.  Yet  this  woman  is  always  quiet  and  gentle,  makes 
no  outward  show  of  grief  or  unhappiness,  and  never  attempts  to 
force  or  find  her  way  into  the  presence  of  her  imaginary  children. 
She  is  a  perfect  pattern  of  industry,  and  has  good  judgment  in  her 
work.  For  twenty-seven  years  she  has  been  the  best  ironer  of 
starched  linen  in  the  laundry,  and  until  recently  has  worked  more 
hours  in  the  year  than  any  other  person  in  the  house.  It  is  needless 
for  me  to  attempt  to  depict  the  immediate  effect,  or  the  more  remote 
consequences,  upon  any  sane  mother  who  had  positive  knowledge 
that  her  children  were  being  murdered. 

Even  raving  and  destructive  maniacs,  how  much  soever  their  con- 
dition is  to  be  deplored,  are  not  in  themselves  generally  unhappy, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  in  many  cases  happier  than  in  their  normal 
condition.     Their  very  violence  is  the  reflex  of  a  mental  exaltation 

*  From  1885  to  1S96  resident  in  a  private  family,  being  one  of  tlie  first  of  those  boarded  out  in 
Massachusetts. 


366  POPULAR    FALLACIES    ABOUT    INSANITY 

very  similar  to,  if  not  identical  with,  that  which  is  produced  by  in- 
toxicating drinks,  opium,  and  other  narcotic  drugs,  and  the  nitrous 
oxide,  or  "  laughing  gas."  *  I  was  once  very  forcibly  impressed  by 
a  remark  of  a  patient  who  for  many  years  was  subject  to  paroxysms 
of  the  most  violent  mania,  with  intervals,  sometimes  long,  of  appar- 
ently perfect  mental  health.  He  had  just  come  out  of  one  of  these 
paroxysms  when  I  congratulated  him  upon  his  restoration.  So  far 
from  sympathizing  with  me  in  gladness,  he  looked  up,  with  a  very  sad 
expression  of  countenance,  as  he  replied,  "  Ah,  doctor,  that  is  the 
happiest  part  of  my  life." 

The  insane  themselves  have  no  special  relish  for  the  idea  that  they 
are  regarded  as  unhappy  or  "  miserable."  As  a  rule,  they  repel  it. 
When  in  charge  of  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum  in  New  York,  I  one 
day  accompanied  two  ladies  through  some  of  the  wards  in  the 
department  for  females.  One  of  them  met  each  patient  with  a  cheer- 
ful smile,  had  a  pleasant  or  agreeable  remark  for  each,  and,  in  short, 
carried  herself  throughout  as  if  she  were  unconscious  that  she  was 
not  among  the  guests  at  a  hotel.  The  other  folded  her  arms,  drew 
down  the  corners  of  her  mouth,  assumed  the  measured  step  of  a 
procession,  and  walked  straight  forward,  looking  alternately  to  the 
right  and  to  the  left  as  she  passed  the  patients,  speaking  to  no  one, 
but  uttering,  at  intervals  as  formal  and  measured  as  her  step,  the  ex- 
pressive comment  "  P-o-o-r  t-h-i-n-g-s  !  p-o-o-r  t-h-i-n-g-s  !  "  with  the 
solemn  tone  and  continuity  of  the  tolling  of  a  funeral  bell.  She  was 
little  aware  that  most  of  the  patients  were  as  able  as  ever  to  recog- 
nize and  appreciate  her  peculiar  manner ;  and  doubtless  she  would 
have  been  not  only  greatly  surprised,  but  annoyed  and  mortified, 
could  she  have  heard  their  comments  and  criticisms  after  she  left. 

In  conversation  with  a  gentleman  who  called  at  the  Northampton 
Hospital,  and  who  not  infrequently  had  occasion  to  travel  in  some 
of  the  Western  States,  he  informed  me  that  upon  one  of  his  journeys 
he  heard  that  no  bald  person  becomes  insane ;  and,  as  an  illustrative 
proof  of  the  fact,  his  informant  asserted  that  in  neither  of  the 
hospitals  for  the  insane  in  Michigan  was  there  a  bald  man  or 
woman  to  be  found  among  the  patients.  In  reply  the  gentleman 
was  told  that,  howsoever  it  might  be  in  the  Peninsula  State,  it  was 

•  Some  forty  years  ago  a  Parisian  physician  (J.  Moreau)  published  a  book,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  demonstrate  the  absolute  identity  of  the  mental  condition  in  insanity  and  in  dreams  with  the 
delirium  produced  by  narcotics  and  that  whicli  precedes  death  caused  by  heat,  by  cold,  and  by  depri- 
vation of  food. 


i885  367 

very  doubtful  that  the  rule  was  one  of  universal  or  of  general  appli- 
cation. We  would  see  if  it  was  sustained  by  the  testimony  of  the 
Northampton  Hospital.  We  went  through  the  wards,  and  took  a 
census  of  twenty-seven  patients  who  were  largely  bald,  to  say  nothing 
of  a  considerable  number  who  had  made  a  beginning  in  that  direction, 
one  who  wore  a  wig,  and  one  who  had  only  a  slight  fringe  of  hair, 
something  like  a  lady's  narrow,  standing,  quilled  ruff,  so  situated  that 
it  might  require  a  zoologist  or  a  barber  to  decide  whether  it  belonged 
to  the  head  or  to  the  back  of  the  neck.  If  Michigan  wants  some 
specimens  of  baldness,  say  forty  or  fifty,  merely  for  the  sake  of 
novelty,   Massachusetts  will   be  happy  to  accommodate  her. 

It  was  reported  about  forty  years  ago  that  blind  persons  are  never 
subject  to  attacks  of  insanity.  Although  then  in  possession  of 
sufficient  evidence  of  untruthfulness  in  the  assertion,  yet,  as  it  was 
a  point  of  some  interest,  I  made  it  a  subject  of  inquiry  at  a  consider- 
able number  of  German  institutions  which  I  soon  afterwards  had 
occasion  to  visit.  Several  of  them  either  then  had  or  previously  had 
patients  who  had  lost  their  sight.  In  some  instances  it  was  lost  be- 
fore the  invasion  of  the  mental  disorder,  in  others  afterwards.  Five 
blind  persons,  three  of  whom  were  men  and  two  women,  have  been 
inmates  of  this  hospital  within  the  last  twenty  years.  As  at  the 
German  institutions,  in  some  of  the  cases,  the  blindness  preceded 
the  insanity,  and  in  others  followed  it.  It  is  nol:  impossible  that  we 
may  hereafter  hear  that  deaf-mutes  are  exempt  from  the  afifliction  of 
mental  alienation.  In  order  to  forestall  any  public  declaration  to 
that  effect,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  state  that  two  members  of  that 
defective  class  are  inmates  of  this  institution  at  the  present  time, 
1885. 

Within  the  last  two  or  three  years  a  paragraph  has  gone  the 
rounds  of  the  newspapers,  assuring  the  public  that  the  insane  never 
shed  tears  until  after  the  commencement  of  convalescence,  and  that 
weeping  is  a  sure  prognostic  of  recovery.  I  had  never  before  either 
seen  or  heard  of  a  suggestion  of  the  kind,  and  it  is  certainly  con- 
trary to  the  results  of  my  observation.  There  are  certain  classes  of 
the  insane,  and  among  them  those  whose  mental  disorder  or  impair- 
ment is  a  consequence  of  paralysis,  in  whom  the  emotional  nature  is 
unnaturally  sensitive.  Some  of  these  shed  tears  upon  the  most 
trivial  occasions.  Hence  it  is  to  be  apprehended  that  the  paragraph 
was  written  by  some  one  who  was  not  well  informed  upon  the  sub- 


368  FABLES    CONCERNING    THE    INSANE 

ject  or  who  was  willing  to  add  one  more  fold  to  the  veil  of  mystery 
through  which  the  subject  of  insanity  is  generally  regarded. 

In  an  interview  not  long  ago  with  an  intelligent  gentleman  from 
one  of  the  most  populous  cities  of  the  Union  the  conversation 
turned  upon  an  institution  for  the  insane  within  or  near  the  limit  of 
that  city.  After  commending  it  for  its  excellence,  the  gentleman 
spoke  of  the  well-merited  popularity  of  its  superintendent,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  relate  the  following  anecdote  as  a  proof  of  his  remarkable 
shrewdness,  presence  of  mind,  and  readiness  of  expedient  in  the 
management  of  the  insane:  "The  superintendent,"  said  he,  "had 
occasion  to  go  to  the  summit  of  a  tower  in  company  with  one  of 
his  patients.  While  admiring  the  extensive  and  beautiful  prospect 
spread  before  them,  the  patient,  with  much  excitement,  suddenly 
seized  the  superintendent  by  the  arm,  and  pressed  him  towards  the 
edge  of  the  tower,  exclaiming,  '  Let's  jump  down,  and  thus  immortal- 
ize ourselves  !  '  The  superintendent  very  coolly  arrested  the  pa- 
tient's attention,  and  replied  :  '  Jump  down  !  Why,  any  fool  can  do 
that.  Let's  go  down  and  jump  up  ! '  The  proposition  struck  the 
fancy  of  the  patient,  and  thus  the  two  were  saved  from  their  impend- 
ing peril." 

My  informant  did  not  say  whether  they  did  jump  or  not,  but  left 
me  upon  that  point  wholly  in  the  dark ;  and,  lest  his  satisfaction 
should  be  marred,  I  refrained  from  telling  him  that  the  story,  in  its 
essentials,  is  much  older  than  the  superintendent  whom  he  had  made 
the  hero  of  it ;  that  it  was  current,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  not  less 
than  sixty  years  ago,  and  then  had  the  flavor  of  antiquity ;  that  it 
undoubtedly  is  an  old  emigrant  from  England,  and  that,  had  it  life 
and  the  power  of  speech,  it  might  not  unreasonably  claim  to  have 
come  over  in  the  "Mayflower." 

It  is  barely  possible,  but  quite  improbable,  that  the  story  had  its 
origin  in  some  actual  occurrence  of  the  kind.  While  superintend- 
ents are  not  habitually  accustomed  to  take  their  excited  or  excitable 
patients  to  the  dangerous  height  of  towers,  yet  some  one  might  have 
taken  an  unexcitable  one  to  such  a  place ;  and,  as  many  a  sane  per- 
son on  the  brink  of  a  precipice  has  felt  an  impulse  to  leap  from  it, 
and  as  there  is  reason  for  the  belief  that  even  the  calmest  and  least 
excitable  insane  man  would  be  somewhat  more  liable  to  that  impulse 
than  one  who  is  not  insane,  it  is  not  beyond  the  limits  of  possibility 
that   the   tale   is   not  wholly  fictitious.     It  has  a  little,  though    not 


i885  369 

much,  greater  claim  upon  the  creduUty  of  mankind  than  that  other 
antique  specimen  of  the  history  of  gymnastics, —  the  tale  of  "the 
cow  that  jumped  over  the  moon." 

Whether  the  writer  of  the  following  account  expected  or  intended 
it  to  be  believed  or  not,  there  is  no  possible  means  of  deciding ;  but 
it  is  nevertheless  very  certain  that  it  has  been  published  as  truth  :  — 

"  A  gentleman  accompanying  a  party  to  inspect  an  asylum 
chanced  to  be  left  behind  in  the  kitchen,  with  a  number  of  the 
inmates  who  acted  as  cooks  and  scullions  to  the  establishment. 
There  was  a  huge  caldron  of  boiling  water  on  the  fire,  into  which 
the  madmen  declared  they  must  put  him  in  order  to  boil  him  for 
broth.  They  would  fain  have  assisted  him  into  the  large  pot ;  and, 
as  they  were  laying  hold  of  him,  he  reflected  that  in  a  personal  strug- 
gle he  would  have  no  chance  with  them.  All  he  could  do  was  to 
gain  time.  So  he  said  :  '  Very  well,  gentlemen.  I  am  sure  I  should 
make  good  broth  if  you  do  not  spoil  it  by  boiling  my  clothes  with 
it.'  '  Take  off  your  clothes  ! '  they  cried  out.  And  he  began  to  take 
off  his  clothes  very  slowly,  crying  out  loudly  the  while  :  'Now,  gen- 
tlemen, my  coat  is  off.  I  shall  soon  be  stripped.  There  goes  my 
waistcoat.  I  shall  soon  be  ready,'  and  so  on,  till  nothing  remained 
but  his  shirt.  Fortunately,  the  keeper,  attracted  by  his  loud  speak- 
ing, hurried  in  just  in  time  to  save  him." 

To  a  person  familiar  with  the  inner  life  of  an  institution  for  the 
insane,  this  morsel  of  pretended  history  is  so  permeated  and  invested 
by  improbabilities  that  the  idea  of  its  truthfulness  appears  to  be  not 
only  perfectly  absurd,  but  supremely  ridiculous.  The  insane  are  not 
cannibals,  even  to  the  extent  of  the  quality  of  their  broth ;  and  the 
medical  officers  of  a  hospital  are  to  be  credited  with  at  least  a  suffi- 
cient knowledge  of  their  patients  to  know,  so  far  as  can  be  known, 
whom  among  them  can  be  safely  trusted  in  performance  of  the  work 
of  the  kitchen.  They  would  be  very  unUkely  to  send  to  that  work 
even  one  patient  whose  disease  might  instigate  him  to  criminal  acts, 
and  much  less  a  whole  group  of  them  ;  and  if  by  possibility  one 
should  be  sent,  and  should  attempt  any  outrage  or  violent  act,  all  the 
others  would  lend  their  assistance  in  opposing  and  securing  him. 

The  insane  form  no  cabals,  no  extensive  conspiracies.  They 
have  no  confidence  one  in  another.  One  patient  of  vigorous  native 
intellect  and  a  strong  will  may  indeed  make  a  dupe,  a  tool,  or  a 
cat's-paw  of  another  who  is  less  liberally  endowed  by  nature.     This 


37©  NEWSPAPER    INACCURACIES 

is  sometimes  done  within  the  walls  of  an  asylum  for  the  insane,  as  it 
not  infrequently  is  in  the  outside  world ;  but  the  concerted  action 
for  evil,  of  several  patients,  is  a  thing  comparatively,  if  not  abso- 
lutely, unknown.  Practical  jokes  are  likewise  sometimes  perpe- 
trated by  inmates  of  the  institution  mentioned ;  and  it  is  far  less 
difficult  to  believe  the  story  on  the  supposition  that  this  was  one  of 
them  than  upon  any  other  hypothesis  whatsoever.  At  one  of  the 
largest  of  American  hospitals  it  was  formerly  customary  on  certain 
days  in  the  week  to  show  visitors  through  the  two  or  three  halls  for 
either  sex.  Among  the  patients  in  one  of  the  halls  for  females 
there  was  a  lady  of  brilUant  intellect  and  large  attainments,  the  wife 
of  a  man  of  wealth  and  eminence.  She  was  a  shrewd  and  acute 
observer,  had  learned  much  of  human  nature,  and  liked  a  little  fun 
withal.  She  knew,  or  thought  she  knew,  that,  of  every  fifty  visitors 
who  passed  through  the  hall,  not  less  than  forty-nine  were  stimulated 
thereto  by  motives  no  higher  than  those  which  actuate  the  man  who 
goes  to  the  menagerie  to  "  see  the  lion  dance  "  or  who  attends  the 
circus  to  witness  the  antics  of  the  clown.  She  thought  it  a  pity  that 
their  curiosity  should  not  be  measurably  gratified,  and  so  she  estab- 
lished a  series  of  entertainments  for  their  special  benefit  and  her 
own  particular  enjoyment.  Upon  the  entrance  of  a  group  of  visitors 
she  would  go  through  a  medley  of  eccentric  and  grotesque  dancing, 
gesticulation,  and  speech,  and  wind  up  by  sidling  up  to  one  of  the 
company,  begging  a  cent,  and  folding,  with  both  hands,  the  front 
part  of  the  skirt  of  her  dress  into  a  temporary  pocket  or  contribution- 
box  for  its  reception.  The  visitors  were  highly  gratified.  Their 
visit  had  not  been  made  in  vain.  They  doubtless  went  away  with 
a  memory  for  a  lifetime,  little  dreaming  how  completely — to  use  a 
common  but  expressive  term  — they  had  been  "  sold." 

From  what  has  here  been  written,  it  may  correctly  be  inferred 
that  writers  who,  with  only  that  extent  of  information  upon  the 
subject  which  generally  prevails,  attempt  to  delineate  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  insane,  either  by  description  or  by  the  language  and  con- 
duct of  fictitious  characters,  as  surely  betray  their  ignorance  as  they 
would  if  writing  upon  any  other  subject  without  sufficient  knowl- 
edge. They  run  more  or  less  into  the  extremes  of  extravagance, 
exaggeration,  and  caricature.  Engaged  upon  a  somewhat  mysterious 
subject,  which  may  easily  be  treated  sensationally,  they  appear  to 
think  that,  to   be    truthful,  they  must   be    sensational.     Doubtless, 


i88s  .  371 

they  are  sometimes  purposely  so,  with  the  intent  of  producing  an 
effect  by  appealing  to  the  love  of  the  marvellous  in  their  readers. 

The  reporter  of  a  newspaper  once  visited  the  Northampton  Hos- 
pital, went  through  the  departments  for  patients,  and  was  furnished 
with  all  requested  information  in  relation  to  the  institution.  Not 
many  days  afterwards  he  published  a  long  account  of  his  visit  in  the 
journal  with  which  he  was  connected.  In  his  description  of  the 
place  he  was  very  accurate  ;  but,  when  he  came  to  the  indications, 
characteristics,  and  manifestations  of  insanity,  even  as  he  was  sup- 
posed to  have  seen  them,  he  was  evidently  in  water  of  unaccustomed 
depth,  and  floundered  to  such  an  extent  that  some  of  the  patients 
themselves  detected  his  awkwardness.  A  bright,  well-educated,  in- 
telligent, and  intellectually  acute  patient  in  the  female  department 
read  the  article,  and  was  greatly^  incensed  at  its  incongruities  and 
inaccuracies.  It  gave  her  the  text  for  a  discourse  the  like  of  which 
the  reporter  had  never  heard,  in  college  or  in  public  hall  of  any 
kind.  It  partook,  perhaps,  of  the  qualities  of  a  sermon,  a  lecture, 
and  a  justice's  charge ;  but,  by  a  usurpation  of  the  province  of  a 
jury,  it  was  brought  to  a  close  with  the  energetic  announcement  of 
the  verdict :  "  The  little  puppy  !     He  ought  to  be  horsewhipped." 

Nor  are  even  the  responsible  writers  for  the  public  journals 
always  unwilling  to  cater  to  the  popular  idea  of  insanity  and  the 
insane.  Within  the  last  twenty  years  the  editor  of  one  of  the 
newspapers  of  Western  Massachusetts  published  an  elaborate  and 
detailed  article  in  relation  to  this  hospital,  drawn  largely  from  his 
personal  observation.  In  this  case,  as  in  that  of  the  reporter,  the 
descriptive  part  was  scrupulously  truthful ;  and  the  same  may  be  said 
of  its  narrative.  But,  as  if  this  wholesome  dish  might  not  prove 
sufficiently  palatable  to  the  partakers  of  his  intellectual  feast,  he 
must  needs  throw  in  the  spice  of  a  paragraph  of  highly  wrought 
untruth.  Of  five  other  Massachusetts  newspapers  which  at  that 
time  regularly  came  to  the  office  of  the  superintendent,  no  less  than 
three  quoted  from  our  editor's  article.  Every  one  of  them  extracted 
the  whole  of  the  untruthful  paragraph.  Not  one  of  them  took  even 
a  line  or  a  fact  from  that  which  was  true. 


372  THE    PERSONAL    EQUATION 

VI.  The  Curability  of  Insanity  (Dr.  Earle's  Last  Paper.) 
Fr07n  Dr.  D.  H.  Take's  Dictionary  of  Psychological  Medicine. 

The  endeavor  to  ascertain  even  the  approximate  curability  of  in- 
sanity is  accompanied  by  difficulties ;  and  the  investigator  is  soon 
thrown  upon  the  results  of  its  treatment  at  the  special  institutions,  as 
his  chief  resource  in  the  search  for  truth.  Nor  are  the  difficulties 
wholly  overcome  by  the  adoption  of  these  results.  In  very  many 
cases,  through  the  affection  or  the  prejudices  of  friends  or  from 
other  causes,  the  patient  is  not  removed  to  a  hospital  until  the  pros- 
pect of  recovery  is  either  wholly  or  partially  lost ;  and  for  reasons 
of  a  similar  nature  he  is  but  too  frequently  removed  therefrom  with- 
out a  sufficient  test  of  his  curability. 

Another  obstacle  to  the  discovery  and  definite  expression  of  the 
actual  susceptibihty  of  cure  of  the  disease  is  found  in  the  tempera- 
ments of  the  physicians  by  whom  they  are  treated.  There  being  no 
test  for  insanity,  there  can  be  no  general  standard  equally  percepti- 
ble by,  and  equally  forcible  to,  the  minds  of  all  men.  As  a  neces- 
sary consequence,  each  physician  adopts  a  standard  of  his  own,  and 
counts  his  recoveries  accordingly. 

American  hospitals  furnish  two  remarkable  instances  of  the  effect 
of  this  "  personal  equation."  At  the  Worcester  (Mass.)  Hospital, 
during  the  last  three  official  years  of  the  administration  of  Dr. 
Bemis,  the  reported  recoveries  were  43.32  per  cent,  of  the  admis- 
sions ;  and  during  the  first  three  entire  years  of  his  successor,  Dr. 
Eastman,  they  were  only  22.16  per  cent,  of  the  admissions.  At  the 
McLean  Asylum,  during  the  last  seven  years  of  the  superintendence 
of  Dr.  Tyler,  the  reported  recoveries  were  44.19  per  cent,  of  the 
admissions :  whereas,  during  the  first  seven  years  of  his  successor, 
Dr.  Jelly,  they  were  only  19.94  per  cent.  The  proportion  of  Dr. 
Tyler's  recoveries  was  to  those  of  Dr.  Jelly  as  221  to  100.  In 
neither  of  these  instances  was  there  any  known  agency  which  tended 
to  render  insanity  less  curable  in  the  second  period  than  in  the  first. 

The  failure,  formerly,  in  the  reports  of  the  lunatic  hospitals, 
clearly  to  discriminate  between  person  and  patients  (or  cases)  was 
the  source  of  no  inconsiderable  error  in  the  minds  of  the  readers 
of  those  reports.     In  cases  of  paroxysmal  or  recurrent  insanity,  a 


1S91  373 

person  is  frequently  both  admitted  to,  and  discharged  recovered 
from,  a  hospital  more  than  once  in  the  course  of  an  official  year. 
In  the  numerical  report  of  these  recoveries  there  is  no  intimation 
that  the  number  of  persons  is  not  equal  to  that  of  recoveries.  At 
the  Bloomingdale  Asylum,  New  York,  a  Avoman  was  discharged 
recovered  six  times,  and  one  at  the  Worcester  Hospital  seven  times 
in  one  year ;  and  in  neither  instance  was  the  reader  informed  that 
the  number  of  persons  was  not  identical  with  that  of  cases  recovered. 
Recoveries  were  also  multiplied  by  the  reported  cures  of  the  same 
person  in  more  than  one  year.  Thus  the  woman  who,  at  Worcester, 
made  seven  recoveries  in  one  year,  had  been  discharged  recovered 
nine  times  within  the  next  two  preceding  years,  making  sixteen 
recoveries  in  the  three  years ;  and  the  woman  who,  at  Blooming- 
dale,  recovered  six  times  in  one  year,  was  reported  recovered 
forty-six  times  in  the  course  of  her  life,  and  finally  died,  a  raving 
maniac,  in  the  asylum. 

At  five  American  asylums  forty  persons  were  reported  recovered 
four  hundred  and  eighty-four  times,  or  a  fraction  more  than  ten  re- 
coveries for  each  person.  The  records  of  American  hospitals  contain 
the  medical  history  of  three  women  who  were  admitted  as  patients  an 
aggregate  of  one  hundred  and  eighteen  times,  and  were  discharged 
recovered  one  hundred  and  two  times  ;  and  yet  two  of  them  died 
insane,  and  the  third,  when  last  heard  from,  had  found  a  home, 
apparently  for  life,  in  an  almshouse. 

By  new  statistical  tables,  adopted  in  Massachusetts  in  1879,  and 
by  the  British  Medico-Psychological  Society  in  188 1,  the  true  num- 
ber of  persons,  as  well  as  of  cases,  recovered  is  shown  in  each  an- 
nual report.  Hitherto  no  American  State,  other  than  Massachusetts, 
has  adopted  those  tables. 

The  admission,  at  a  large  proportion  of  the  institutions,  of  cases 
of  not  only  delirium  tremens  and  the  opium  habit,  but  alcoholism, 
and  even  tnere  habitual  inebriety,  and,  upon  their  discharge,  report- 
ing them  as  recovered,  vitiates  the  statistics  of  those  institutions  to 
an  important  extent,  giving  an  apparent  but  fictitious  curability  to 
insanity.  The  published  statistics  of  the  disease  include  thousands 
of  "recoveries  "  of  this  kind. 

A  few  facts  from  medical  history  will  show  the  method  by  which 
the  popular  mind,  particularly  in  America,  heretofore,  received  the 
impression  that  insanity  is  largely  curable. 


374  FALLACIOUS    STATISTICS 

In  the  year  1820  Dr.  George  Man  Burrows,  of  London,  published 
his  "  Inquiry  into  Certain  Errors  relative  to  Insanity,"  in  which  he 
stated  that,  of  all  the  cases  (296)  treated  by  him,  the  proportion  of 
recoveries  was  81  in  100;  of  recent  cases,  91  in  100;  of  old  cases, 
35  in  100.  The  appendix  to  the  "Inquiry"  contained  the  statistics 
of  the  "  Retreat"  at  York  from  1796  to  1819.  The  ratio  of  recov- 
eries of  all  those  cases  which  were  of  less  than  three  months'  dura- 
tion was  85.1  per  cent. 

The  report  for  1827  of  the  Retreat  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  says :  "Dur- 
ing the  last  year  there  have  been  admitted  twenty-three  recent  cases, 
of  which  twenty-one  recovered,  a  number  equivalent  to  91.3  per  cent." 

In  January,  1833,  Massachusetts  opened  her  first  State  Hospital, 
at  Worcester,  under  the  charge  of  Dr.  Samuel  B.  Woodward,  who 
was  one  of  the  original  directors  of  the  Hartford  Retreat.  In  his 
second  annual  report,  which  was  for  the  oflicial  year  1833-34,  he 
states  that  the  recoveries  during  that  year  were  82.25  per  cent,  of 
all  the  recent  cases  discharged.  He  classed  as  recent  cases  all 
whose  origin  was  within  one  year  prior  to  admission,  and  this 
method  was  followed  generally  at  the  American  hospitals.  So,  also, 
was  the  practice  of  calculating  the  recoveries  upon  the  number  of 
patients  discharged. 

When  the  Worcester  Hospital  was  opened,  there  were  but  eight 
other  institutions  in  the  United  States  specially  devoted  to  the  care 
of  the  insane  ;  but  within  the  ten  succeeding  years  no  less  than 
twelve  new  institutions  were  added  to  their  number.  With  the 
reported  success  of  Dr.  Woodward,  and  the  other  high  ratios  of  re- 
covery (already  mentioned)  before  them,  a  generous  rivalry  to 
show  the  largest  percentage  of  cures  was  soon  manifested  among 
the  medical  superintendents.  For  the  official  year  1840-41  Dr. 
Woodward  reported  90  per  cent,  of  recoveries  of  recent  cases  dis- 
charged, and  in  the  next  following  year  91,42  per  cent.  In  1842, 
Dr.  Gait,  of  the  Williamsburg  (Virginia)  Asylum,  claimed  the 
recovery  of  twelve  out  of  thirteen  recent  cases.  This  was  a  percent- 
age of  92.3.  One  of  the  thirteen  died,  and  of  this  the  doctor  very 
naively  says,  "  If  we  deduct  this  case  from  those  under  treatment,  the 
recoveries  amount  to  100  per  cent."  At  length,  in  his  report  for 
1843,  Dr.  Awl,  of  the  Columbus  (Ohio)  Asylum,  stated  that  the  per- 
centage of  recoveries  of  recent  cases  discharged  in  that  year  was  100. 
This  was  the  ?ie plus  ultra.    The  same  year  Dr.  Luther  V.  Bell,  of  the 


i»9i  375 

McLean  Asylum,  in  reviewing  all  his  cases  —  "  somewhat  exceeding 
a  thousand  "  —  to  that  time,  says  that,  of  those  cases  whose  duration 
was  less  than  six  months,  "  certainly  nine-tenths  have  recovered." 
(The  effect  of  fourteen  years'  additional  experience  upon  Dr.  Bell's 
opinion  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  in  1857  he  said  to  one  of  his 
friends,  "  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  when  a  man  once 
becomes  insane,  he  is  about  used  up  for  this  world.") 

The  inevitable  and  obvious  result  of  all  these  publications  of  high 
ratios  of  recovery  was  to  give  the  impression  to  the  public  mind  that 
mental  disease  is  far  more  susceptible  of  cure  than,  from  facts  now 
known,  it  is  shown  to  be.  Their  influence  was  not  without  its  effect 
upon  the  British  superintendents,  as  is  indicated  by  the  language  of 
Dr.  W.  A.  F.  Browne,  who  states  that  the  American  success  "ex- 
cited the  envy  and  despair  of  my  confreres  and  myself."  Believing 
that,  with  regard  to  the  subject  before  us,  the  best  method  of  show- 
ing what  can  be  done  is  to  show  what  has  been  done,  we  proceed  to 
mention  some  of  the  most  important  and  reliable  statistics  which 
now  illustrate  the  curability  of  insanity. 

Dr.  John  Thurnam  traced  the  history  until  death  of  244  persons 
treated  at  the  York  Retreat,  and,  generalizing  from  these  data, 
formulated  the  following  rule  :  "In  round  numbers,  of  ten  persons 
attacked  by  insanity,  five  recover  and  five  die,  sooner  or  later,  dur- 
ing the  attack.  Of  the  five  who  recover,  not  more  than  two  remain 
well  during  the  rest  of  their  lives  :  the  other  three  sustain  subse- 
quent attacks,  during  which  at  least  two  of  them  die."  In  1858  the 
number  of  persons  admitted  into  the  asylums  of  Scotland  was  1,297. 
Twelve  years  afterwards  Sir  Arthur  Mitchell  traced  their  history  as 
far  as  practicable,  and  in  January,  1877,  published  the  results  in  the 
Joicrnal  of  Mental  Science.  Of  1,096  persons  whose  history  was 
traced,  454  had  died  insane,  and  367  still  lived  insane, —  total,  821 
insane;  while  78  had  died  not  insane,  and  197  still  lived,  not  in- 
sane,—  total,  275  not  insane  (percentage  of  insane,  74.91;  per- 
centage not  insane,  25.9).  In  general  terms,  three-fourths  were  in- 
sane, and  one-fourth  not  insane.  The  final  results  in  regard  to 
these  patients  will  probably  very  nearly  agree  with  those  of  the  244 
at  the  York  Retreat.* 

*  Following  the  example  of  Sir  Arthur  Mitchell,  I  selected  the  first  admissions  to  all  the  Massa- 
chusetts hospitals  in  i88o  (about  3,000),  and  placed  them  on  a  special  list,  for  similar  investigation, 
which  I  kept  up  until  leaving  office  as  Inspector  of  Charities  in  INIassachusetts  in  November,  iSSS. 
My  successors  have  failed  to  make  the  required  investigation  ;  but  the  result  is  much  as  in  Scotland 
for  those  I  investigated.    (F.  B.  S.) 


376  IMAGINARY    RECOVERIES 

In  1843  Dr.  Woodward  published  a  list  of  25  recent  cases  recov- 
ered, contrasting  the  cost  of  their  treatment  with  that  of  25  chronic 
cases  then  in  the  hospital.  Thirty-six  years  afterwards,  in  1879, 
the  present  writer  traced  the  history  of  those  patients  to  that  time, 
and  found  the  results  somewhat  more  unfavorable  than  those  of  the 
244  at  York.  Agreeably  to  Thurnam's  rule,  10  of  the  25  should 
never  have  a  second  attack  :  the  remaining  15  should  have  a  second 
attack,  and  perhaps  more;  and,  of  those  15,  10  should  die  insane. 
The  actual  results  were  as  follows  :  Only  7  of  the  patients  did  not 
have  a  second  attack;  while  18  did  have  a  second  attack  or  more. 
7  had  died  insane,  while  2  others  were  in  almshouses,  having 
long  been  incurably  insane, —  and  will  of  course  die  so, —  and  i  has 
died  at  home  who  "was  never  well  (sane)  but  a  few  months  at  a 
time."  8  of  the  25  were  living  in  1879,  and  there  was  more  than 
a  mere  probability  that  some  of  them  would  die  insane. 

In  1883  the  present  writer  collated  the  cases  of  duration  on  ad- 
mission of  less  than  twelve  months  —  the  recent  cases  of  Americans 
—  from  the  reports  of  several  years  of  twenty-three  British  asylums. 
The  aggregate  of  admissions  was  15,697  ;  of  recoveries,  7,465.  Pro- 
portion of  recoveries,  47.49  per  cent. 

In  the  Jour?ial  of  Mental  Science  for  July,  1884,  Dr.  T.  A.  Chap- 
man, of  the  Hereford  Asylum,  published  the  collected  statistics  of 
"  forty-six  English  County  and  Borough  Asylums,  and  the  Edinburgh 
and  Glasgow  Royal  Asylum,  for  (in  most  instances)  eleven  years, — 
1872  to  1882,  inclusive."  Here  is  a  collocation  of  the  remarkable 
number  of  93,443  cases  of  insanity,  all  of  them  classified  as  in  Thur- 
nam's table.  The  whole  number  of  recoveries  was  35,468,  or  37.95 
per  cent,  of  the  admissions.  Of  the  cases  of  less  than  twelve 
months'  duration,  there  were  69,983,  of  which  the  recoveries  were 
32,569,  or  46.52  per  cent.  The  cases  of  first  attack  and  of  less 
than  three  months'  duration  were  38,283,  of  which  18,654,  or  48.72 
per  cent.,  recovered. 

The  5  instances  of  remarkably  high  ratios  of  recovery,  which  were 
so  effective  in  producing  a  public  impression  of  a  large  degree  of 
curability  of  insanity,  those  of  Dr.  Burrows,  the  York  Retreat,  the 
Hartford  Retreat,  the  Worcester  Hospital,  and  the  Williamsburg 
(Virginia)  Asylum,  were  all  of  them  derived  from  the  treatment  of  an 
^ggJ'sg^te  of  only  395  cases.  In  the  light  thrown  upon  the  subject 
by  Chapman's  93,443  cases,  those  five  high  ratios  most  signally  fail 
as  an  authority  from  which  to  deduce  a  general  rule  of  curability. 


1891  377 

The  following  summary  includes  the  results  of  some  of  the  present 
writer's  statistical  researches  which  have  not  been  mentioned  in  this 
aiticle  :  — 

1 .  Cases  of  first  attack ;  duration  less  than  three  months. —  («) 
Earle's  8,316  cases,  at  twenty-three  British  asylums;  recoveries, 
46.71  per  cent.;  {l>)  Chapman's  38,283  cases,  at  forty-six  British 
asylums;  recoveries,  48.72  per  cent. 

2.  Cases  of  first  attack;  duration  less  than  twelve  months. —  {a) 
Earle's  10,929  cases,  at  twenty-three  British  asylums;  recoveries, 
44.06  per  cent,  {fi)  Chapman's  50,409  cases  at  forty-six  British  asy- 
lums;  recoveries,  43.79  per  cent. 

3.  Not  first  attack  ;  duration  less  than  twelve  months. —  {a)  Earle's 
4,768  cases  at  twenty-three  British  asylums;  recoveries,  55.37  per 
cent,  ifi)  Chapman's  19,574  cases,  at  forty-six -British  asylums  ;  re- 
coveries, 53.61  per  cent. 

4.  All  cases  of  duration  less  than  twelve  months. —  {a)  Earle's 
15,697  cases,  at  twenty-three  British  asylums;  recoveries,  47.49  per 
cent,  ib)  Chapman's  69,983  cases,  at  forty-six  British  asylums  ;  re- 
coveries, 46.52  per  cent,  (c)  Earle's  8,063  cases,  at  fifteen  Ameri- 
can institutions  ;  recoveries,  38.59  per  cent. 

5.  All  recoveries;  calculated  on  all  admissions. —  {a)  Chapman's 
93,443  cases,  at  forty-six  British  asylums;  recoveries,  37.95  per 
cent,  ib)  Earle's  33,318  cases,  at  thirty-nine  American  institutions; 
recoveries,  29.15  per  cent,  (r)  Earle's  23,052  cases,  third  period  of 
five  years,  1880-1884,  at  twenty  American  institutions;  recoveries, 
29,91  per  cent,  {d^  Earle's  14,372  cases,  in  one  year,  at  fifty-eight 
American  institutions;  recoveries,  27.88  per  cent. 

It  appears  from  these  statistics  that  the  reported  recoveries  at  the 
British  institutions  exceed  those  at  the  American  by  from  8  to  9  per 
cent,  of  the  admissions. 


378  LETTER    OF    ADMIRAL    SMYTH 


VII.     The  Artist  Earles. 

In  the  preparation  of  his  Earle  Genealogy  Dr.  Earle  had  come 
upon  odd  histories  of  some  branches  of  his  family ;  perhaps  the 
oddest  Avas  that  which  connects  the  Leicester  Earles  with  Concord 
Fight,  the  art  studios  of  London,  and  the  British  navy.  Ealph  Earle 
of  Leicester,  son  of  a  captain  in  Washington's  army,  and  a  third 
cousin  of  Dr.  Earle  (born  175 1,  died  1801),  had  a  turn  for  art,  and 
in  1775  made  sketches  of  the  fights  at  Lexington  and  Concord  in 
the  preceding  April, —  four  pictures  of  some  merit  that  were  badly 
engraved  by  Amos  Doolittle  of  New  Haven,  and  widely  circulated  in 
that  form.  Like  a  better  artist,  Trumbull,  he  afterwards  studied 
in  London  with  West  and  got  the  title  of  R.A.;  then  returned  to  New 
England  and  painted  portraits  and  landscapes  with  success, —  among 
them  several  in  Leicester  which  are  preserved.  Two  of  his  family 
were  also  artists  of  merit, —  his  brother  James  and  his  own  son 
Ralph.  James  had  a  brief  career,  dying  in  Charleston,  S.C,  of  yel- 
low fever  in  1796,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five.  But  he  had  married  in 
1789  the  widow  of  an  American  Tory,  whose  only  son  by  this  first 
marriage  was  the  late  Admiral  Sir  W.  H.  Smyth  of  the  English  navy. 
In  the  year  1863  Sir  William^  gave  Dr.  Earle  this  account  of  his 
family  :  — 

"  My  mother's  maiden  name  was  Caroline  Georgiana  Pilkington, 
who  married  Joseph  Brewer  Palmer  Smyth,  of  New  Jersey,  a  de- 
scendant of  the  celebrated  Captain  John  Smith,  of  which  marriage  I 
am  now  the  sole  remainder.  The  arms  of  the  captain  and  additions 
are  worn  by  my  family,  and  I  enclose  you  an  impression  of  my 
book-plate.  After  my  father's  premature  death  his  friend,  Mr. 
James  Earle  of  Paxton,  in  Massachusetts,  married  the  widow,  by 
whom  he  had  three  children,  Clara,  Phoebe,  and  Augustus,  of  whom 
Phoebe  alone  remains.  Mr.  James  Earle,  whom  I  well  remember, 
was  unfortunately  cut  off  by  a  fever  at  Charleston,  just  as  he  was 
preparing  to  return  to  England.  There  was  a  most  friendly  eulogy 
of  him  in  a  Charleston  paper  of  the  time  (about  1796),  in  which 
they  stated  that  he  was  equal  to  Copley,  Savage,  Trumbull,  West, 
and  other  American  geniuses  of  the  age,  instancing  his  power  of 
giving  'life  to  the  eye,  and  expression  to  every  feature,'     Upon  this 


1S12-1833  379 

point  I  can  safely  recommend  you  to  consult  my  excellent  former 
friend,  Professor  Morse,  himself  so  good  an  artist ;  for  I  recollect 
his  opinion  of  the  great  merit  of  Mr.  Earle's  coloring." 

It  was  not  of  James  Earle,  however,  but  of  his  son  Augustus,  that 
Professor  Morse  had  knowledge,  not  being  born  until  1791,  and  only 
visiting  England  in  181 1.  He  wrote  to  Dr.  Earle  that  in  1812-14 
he  was  a  student  in  the  Royal  Academy  with  Augustus  Earle,  C.  R. 
Leslie,  and  others,  but  referring  him  to  Dunlap's  "  History  of  the 
Arts  of  Design "  for  notices  of  both  James  and  Augustus  Earle. 
Professor  Morse  adds:  "When  in  London,  in  1856,  I  passed  the 
evening  at  a  party  given  to  me  by  Mr.  Leslie,  where  I  met  Sir  Edwin 
Landseer  and  other  old  friends,  and  among  them  a  sister  of 
Augustus  Earle,  who  was  married  a  second  time  to  a  respectable 
Scotch  gentleman  (Patrick  Macintire).  Her  first  husband  was  Mr. 
D.  Dighton,  an  artist.  The  mother  of  Mrs.  Dighton  was  Mrs.  Maxwell, 
who  was  the  widow  of  James  Earle,  if  I  rightly  recollect.  I  have  the 
impression  that  Mrs.  Maxwell  was  three  times  married,  and  that  the 
names  of  her  several  husbands  were  Sm}1:h,  Earle,  and  Maxwell.* 
A  son  by  the  first  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  admirals  in  the 
British  service, —  a  noble-hearted  and  highly  cultivated  man, —  Sir 
William  Henry  Smyth,  who  has  written  many  valuable  works." 

By  referring  to  Dunlap's  gossiping  volumes,  I  find  that  Ralph 
Earle  (whose  father  Ralph  refused  a  captain's  commission  from  the 
Tory  Governor  Hutchinson)  was  himself  a  member  of  the  "  Gov- 
ernor's Guard "  of  Connecticut  (where  he  lived  at  intervals,  and 
where  he  died),  and  in  that  capacity,  says  Dunlap,  "was  marched 
to  Cambridge,  and  soon  afterwards  to  Lexington,  where  he  made 
drawings  of  the  scenery,  and  subsequently  composed  the  first  his- 
torical pictures,  perhaps,  ever  attempted  in  America,  which  were 
engraved  by  his  companion-in-arms,  Mr.  Amos  Doolittle."  This  was 
after  the  fights  at  Lexington  and  Concord;  and  the  pictures  were 
four  in  number, —  the  encounter  at  Lexington  Green,  the  British 
officers  reconnoitring  Concord  from  the  Burial  Hill  in  that  village, 
the  fight  at  Concord  Bridge,  and  a  fourth  showing  the  redcoats  in 
retreat.  The  original  paintings  may  have  perished  :  a  copy  or  two 
from  them  exists  ;  and  the  four  engravings,  very  badly  executed  by 
Doolittle,  are  often  found  in  old  houses.     Earle  must  have  been  on 

*  In  a  letter  of  Leslie  to  his  sister  in  Philadelphia,  May  12,  1812,  he  mentions  a  portrait  he  is 
painting  of  Miss  Smyth,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Maxwell,  who  was  governess  in  a  family.  She  was 
sister  of  the  admiral.     Professor  Morse  is  right  in  saying  the  widow  of  James  Earle  married  again. 


380  RALPH  EARLE,  ROVING  PAINTER 

the  spot  in  Concord  as  well  as  Lexington,  the  scenery  being  fairly 
well  rendered  by  him.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  remained  in  the 
army  so  long  as  Trumbull  did,  but  went  back  to  New  Haven,  where, 
says  Dunlap,  "  I  remember  seeing  two  full-lengths  of  Rev.  Timothy 
Dwight  and  his  wife,  painted  in  1777  in  the  manner  of  Copley,  as 
Earle  thought.  They  showed  some  talent,  but  the  shadows  were ' 
black  as  charcoal  or  ink.  He  studied  in  London,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  West,  immediately  after  1783,  and  returned  home  in 
1786.  He  painted  many  portraits  in  New  York,  and  more  in  Con- 
necticut. He  had  considerable  merit, —  a  breadth  of  light  and 
shadow,  facility  of  handling,  and  truth  in  likeness ;  but  he  pre- 
vented improvement  and  destroyed  himself  by  habitual  intemper- 
ance." Tuckerman  relates  that  in  1787  Alexander  Hamilton,  find- 
ing him  in  prison  for  debt  at  New  York,  induced  Mrs.  Hamilton 
and  other  ladies  to  sit  to  him  in  jail,  whereby  he  earned  enough  to 
pay  his  debt,  and  was  discharged.  He  strolled  as  far  as  Niagara, 
and  painted  a  large  canvas  of  the  Falls,  which  was  exhibited  in 
America  and  England,  and  was  in  existence  in  London  about  1850. 
He  also  painted  a  large  landscape  of  the  Denny  farm-house,  farm, 
and  hill,  in  the  east  part  of  Leicester,  which  still  exists  there,  in  the 
Denny  family;  and  in  1800  he  painted  his  cousin  Thomas  Earle, 
of  Cherry  Valley,  Leicester,  his  fine  house  and  sycamore-trees  in 
the  background,  of  which  portrait  Dr.  Earle  gives  a  faint  copy  in 
the  Genealogy.  He  painted  portraits  of  Springfield  magnates  and 
of  Governor  Strong  and  his  family  of  Northampton  shortly  before 
his  own  death  in  1801.  His  son  Ralph  E.  Whittemore  Earle,  born 
about  1780,  studied  in  London  in  1809-10,  and  afterwards  practised 
portrait  painting  at  New  Orleans  and  Nashville.  There  he  came  to 
the  notice  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson,  wife  of  General  Jackson,  after- 
wards President,  and  married  one  of  her  nieces. 

James  Earle  was  the  brother  of  the  first  Ralph,  uncle  of  the 
second,  and  father  of  Augustus  Earle,  above-mentioned.  He  seems 
to  have  lived  in  Paxton  before  going  abroad,  as  did  his  brother 
Clark  Earle,  who  was  the  foster-father  of  Anthony  Chase,  brother-in- 
law  of  Dr.  Earle.  How  early  James  went  abroad  does  not  appear, 
but  probably  soon  after  his  brother  Ralph.  He  married  in  London 
about  1789,  but  came  over  to  Charleston,  S.C.,  between  1792  and 
1795,  where  he  was  seen  by  Thomas  Sully,  the  Philadelphia  painter, 
while  living  as  a  boy  in  Charleston.     He   seems  to  have  been   a 


1796-1836  3^1 

better  artist  than  the  two  Ralphs  ;  but  after  some  success  in  Caro- 
lina, the  birthplace  of  Allston  and  the  liberal  patron  of  Jarvis  and 
Professor  Morse,  he  died  of  yellow  fever,  just  as  he  was  going  back 
to  his  family  in  England.  His  will  is  on  record  at  Charleston,  dated 
Aug.  16,  1796  ;  and  his  death  was  but  a  few  days  later. 

His  son  Augustus  had  more  art  education  than  any  of  the  Earles  ; 
but  his  light,  roving  nature  did  not  allow  him  to  profit  much  by  it. 
He  was  associated  in  his  studies  with  C.  R.  LesHe,  Landseer,  Pro- 
fessor Morse,  and  others  of  note,  knew  Allston,  Turner,  Beechey, 
etc.,  and  went  sketching  with  Leslie  and  Morse,  who  tell  adventures 
of  his,  and  knew  his  family. 

Augustus  Earle,  as  Professor  Morse  intimates,  had  many  eccen- 
tricities ;  but  extreme  reserve  and  modesty  was  not  among  them. 
Like  his  uncle,  Ralph,  he  was  a  rover,  but.  over  a  much  wider 
range  of  the  earth's  surface.  Attaching  himself  to  his  half-brother, 
then  Captain  Smyth,  he  sailed  up  the  Mediterranean  to  Sicily,  Malta, 
and  Algiers,  rambled  over  Carthage  and  Cyrene,  visiting  Ptolemais, 
the  bishopric  of  Synesius,  then  took  a  turn  (in  18 18)  in  the  United 
States,  and  next  traversed  South  America,  where  he  remained  on  one 
coast  or  the  other  till  1824.  Then  he  sailed  for  Calcutta,  but  was 
left  on  shore  at  Tristan  d' Acunha,  whence,  after  six  months'  imprison- 
ment, he  went  to  Van  Dieman's  Land  and  Australia.  Sailing  for 
Madras,  he  touched  at  the  Carolines,  the  Ladrones,  and  Manilla, 
in  1828  proceeded  to  Pondicherry,  Mauritius,  and  several  other  out- 
of-the-way  places,  and  got  back  to  England  shortly  before  Admiral 
Fitzroy's  "  Beagle,"  with  Charles  Darwin  on  board,  was  to  sail  on 
her  famous  voyage  round  the  world.  As  he  said  himself,  in  a 
trumpery  volume  which  he  printed  in  1832,  "With  a  spirit  not 
at  all  depressed  by  the  vicissitudes  and  perils  he  had  gone  through, 
but  with  an  increased  and  insatiable  desire  to  visit  climes  which  he 
had  read  of,  but  never  seen,  he  unhesitatingly  accepted  the  situation 
of  draughtsman  to  his  Majesty's  ship  '  Beagle '  on  a  voyage  of  dis- 
covery." He  got  no  farther  than  Montevideo,  and  died  on  shore 
somewhere.  His  uncle,  Ralph  Earle,  who  also  studied  abroad,  be- 
came a  portrait  painter  in  America,  had  married  a  niece  of  General 
Jackson,  and  painted  his  portrait  as  General  and  President. 

Ralph  E.  W.  Earle,  married  into  General  Jackson's  family,  is  thus 
described  by  Nicholas  P.  Trist,  a  well-known  Virginian,  who  had 
been  Jackson's  secretary  for  a  time  :  — 


382  GENERAL    JACKSON'S    PAINTER 

"Colonel  Earl"  (it  seems  he  went  by  this  title  in  Tennessee  and 
Washington)  "had  been  an  artist  in  Nashville,  and  there  experi- 
enced the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Jackson.  This  was  enough.  By  Mrs. 
Jackson's  death  this  relation  became  sanctified  for  the  General's 
heart.  Earle  became  forthwith  his  protege.  From  that  time  the 
painter's  home  was  under  his  roof,  at  Washington,  in  Tennessee,  at 
the  President's  house,  as  at  the  Hermitage,  where  he  died  in  1837. 
And  this  treatment  was  amply  repaid.  Earle's  devotion  was  more 
untiring  even  than  his  brush ;  and  its  steadiness  would  have  proved 
itself  at  any  moment,  by  his  cheerfully  laying  down  his  life  in  Jack- 
son's service.  If  he  had  had  a  thousand  lives,  they  would  have 
been  laid  down  one  after  the  other,  with  the  same  perseverance  that 
one  canvas  after  another  was  lifted  to  his  easel,  there  to  keep  its 
place  till  it  had  received  the  General.  In  1836  President  Jackson 
was  generally  accompanied  in  his  afternoon  walk  by  Colonel  Earle." 
The  painter  died  at  the  Hermitage,  near  Nashville,  the  next  year 
(not  at  New  Orleans,  as  Dr.  Earle  says)  ;  and  this  inscription  was 
placed  on  his  gravestone,  beside  the  Jackson  tomb  :  — 

"  IN  MEMORY  OF  R.   E.   W.   EARL, 

ARTIST,   FRIEND,   AND  COMPANION 

OF 

GENERAL    JACKSON, 

Who  died,  September  16,  1837." 

His  age  at  death  was  less  than  sixty.  He  had  painted  portraits 
of  his  friend  for  a  dozen  years.  The  likeness  was  easily  recognized  : 
the  art  was  rather  hard  and  stiff.  But  his  attachment  to  the  old 
chieftain  was  more  pleasing  than  the  art. 


I837-I838  383 


VIII.     Reminiscences  by  Dr.  Earle  (1889). 

My  last  course  of  medical  lectures  at  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania was  in  the  winter  of  1836-37.  In  the  expectation  of  going  to 
Europe,  I  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  the  professors  an  early  final 
examination,  which  set  me  free  from  the  school  sooner  than  other- 
wise would  have  occurred.  As  I  had  never  previously  visited  Wash- 
ington, I  went  to  that  city,  and  was  present  at  the  inauguration  of 
Martin  Van  Buren  as  President  of  the  United  States.  I  also  ob- 
tained an  introduction  to  President  Jackson  at  the  White  House, 
when  no  one  else  was  present  excepting  the  famous  editor,  Amos 
Kendall,  who  was  widely  known  as  a  member  of  the  so-called 
"  Kitchen  Cabinet "  of  the  President.  I  then  returned  to  my  home 
in  Leicester,  and  made  preparations  for  a  journey  to  Europe.  I 
again  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  while  there  attended  the  sittings 
of  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  at  the  Arch  Street  Meeting-house. 

On  the  25th  of  the  4th  month  (April,  1837)  I  sailed  from  New 
York  for  Liverpool.  Among  the  passengers  were  Captain  Richard 
Stockton,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  and  Joseph  Sturge,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  philanthropic  Friends  in  England.  He  was  then  on 
his  way  homeward  from  the  West  Indies  Islands,  which  he  had 
visited  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the  operation  of  the  seven 
years'  apprenticeship  law,  which  had  been  enacted  for  the  British 
colonies  as  a  preliminary  precaution  to  the  final  and  complete  eman- 
cipation of  the  slaves-  He  had  with  him  a  bright  young  negro, 
about  twenty  years  of  age,  whom  he  was  taking  to  England  as  a  wit- 
ness to  the  cruelties  which  were  practised  by  the  planters  under  the 
law  of  apprenticeship,  Joseph  Sturge  had  been  at  home  but  a  short 
time  before  he  began  to  agitate  the  subject  of  the  abolition  of  the 
law  of  apprenticeship  by  an  exposition  of  the  condition  of  things  as 
he  had  found  them  in  the  colonial  islands.  He  prosecuted  this  with 
great  perseverance  and  zeal  until  he  succeeded  in  his  object  through 
the  law  of  emancipation  enacted  by  the  British  Parliament. 

Pope  says,  "All  partial  evil  is  universal  good."  If  the  converse 
of  this  proposition  be  true,  then  universal  good  must  be  accom- 
panied or  followed  by  some  partial  evil.  The  slaves  of  Jamaica  and 
the  other  British  West  Indies  colonies  obtained  their  freedom,  but 
one  of  the  other  results  was  the  degeneracy  of  the  young   negro 


284  DR.    EARLE'S    societies 

whom  Joseph  Sturge  had  used  as  a  witness.  He  was  so  much 
elated  by  the  prominence  and  attention  that  were  given  him  in  Eng- 
land by  his  being  brought  to  testify  before  Parliamentary  commit- 
tees, and  by  being  made  a  conspicuous  personage  in  the  mass  meet- 
ings at  Exeter  Hall  and  other  places,  and  by  the  limitless  opportuni- 
ties thrown  before  him  for  the  indulgence  of  his  appetites,  that  he 
fell  into  bad  habits,  assumed  an  undue  self-importance,  and  so  con- 
ducted himself  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  send  him  back  to  his 
West  Indies  home. 

I  arrived  in  London  on  the  evening  next  preceding  the  eighteenth 
anniversary  of  the  birth  of  the  then  Princess  Victoria.  I  remained 
there  about  six  weeks,  during  which  there  were  important  changes 
in  the  government  of  Great  Britain.  King  William  IV,  died,  and  was 
buried  at  Windsor.  Victoria  ascended  the  throne,  and  dissolved 
Parhament.  London  was  black  with  the  emblems  of  mourning, 
and  committees  of  "  condolence  and  congratulation  "  came  from  all 
quarters  of  the  island  in  manifestation  of  their  loyalty  to  the  new 

sovereign. 

****** 

Three  of  the  prominent  medical  societies  of  the  United  States 
came  into  existence  during  the  time  of  my  connection  with  the 
Bloomingdale  Asylum.  These  are  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, the  Association  of  Medical  Superintendents  of  American  Insti- 
tutions for  the  Insane,  and  the  New  York  Academy  of  Medicine.  I 
was  a  member  of  the  preliminary  convention  by  which  each  of  them 
was  founded,  became  a  member  of  each,  and  was  the  author  of  the 
first  original  paper  read  before  the  Academy  of  Medicine.  It  was  a 
brief  history  of  institutions  for  the  insane  in  the  United  States,  and 
was  pubUshed  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  that  associa- 
tion. In  1884  I  was  elected  president  of  the  Association  of  Medical 
Superintendents  of  Institutions  for  the  Insane.  I  was  also  an  early 
member  and  a  vice-president  of  the  American  Social  Science  Asso- 
ciation. Am  now  a  member  of  the  New  England  Historic-Genea- 
logical Society,  a  Fellow  of  the  New  York  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  and  of 
the  American  Philosophical  Society  at  Philadelphia,  a  correspond- 
ing member  of  the  State  Medical  Society  of  Connecticut,  of  the 
New  York  Medico-legal  Society,  and  of  the  Medical  Society  of 
Athens,  Greece,  and  an  honorary  member  of  the  British  Medico- 
Psychological  Association. 


38s 


Anecdotes  of  Leicester  and  Worcester. 


Miss  Lucy  Chase  wrote  to  her  uncle  Dr.  Earle  soon  after  George 
Bancroft's  death,  who  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Aaron  Bancroft, 
of  Worcester,  giving  these  particulars  of  the  Earles,  of  Leicester,  by 
an  Irishman  who  had  worked  for  them  :  — 

"We  had  a  very  interesting  interview  with  Martin  Callaghan  a 
few  days  ago,  April,  1891.  He  said:  '  I  remember  many  words  of 
counsel  which  Pliny  and  William  Earle  both  gave  me, —  we  called 
Dr.  Earle  PUny.  They  gave  me  a  good  deal  of  good  advice,  which 
has  been  of  great  service  to  me.  I  think  Aunt  Patience  w^as  the 
best  woman  and  the  most  wonderful  woman  I  ever  knew.  She  was 
always  a  queen.  She  would  be  sitting  in  the  kitchen  mixing  some- 
thing for  the  men,  and  talking  great  thoughts.  I  don't  think  any  one 
in  the  world  can  be  her  superior,  even  if  one  could  be  her  equal.  In 
those  days  I  felt  convinced  that  the  country  would  have  to  suffer  for 
its  iniquity  of  slavery.'  He  seems  to  us  to  be  the  wholesome  fruit  of 
Mulberry  Grove  training.  .  .  .  We  made  many  calls  in  Leicester,  and 
saw  Uncle  William  Earle  at  T.  Southwick's.  Uncle  repeated  to  us 
the  following  lines  :  — 

'  Old  age  comes  with  sorrow, 

With  wrinkle  and  furrow, 

No  hope  in  to-morrow, 

None  sympathy  spares. 

But,  unfit  to  rise  up, 

He  looks  to  the  skies  up, 

None  close  his  old  eyes  up, 

He  dies  ;  and  who  cares  ?  " 

"  Martin  drove  us  to  Leicester,  and  took  with  him  a  photograph 
of  grandmother  and  one  of  Uncle  William." 

William  Buffum  Earle,  an  older  brother  of  Dr.  Earle,  had  long 
been  blind  from  an  accident.  He  was  most  ingenious  and  inventive, 
but  in  his  later  life  unable  to  support  himself,  and  was  maintained 
by  Dr.  Earle.  He  died  in  1891.  "Aunt  Patience"  and  "grand- 
mother" were  the  same  noted  person,  the  mother  of  Dr.  Earle. 
Miss  Chase  added  concerning  a  contemporary  of  her  Uncle  William  : 

"George  Bancroft  visited  his  birthplace  when  he  was  eighty-nine, 
and  told  John  B.  Pratt,  whose  mother  owned  the  first  spinet  imported 


386  MR.  may's    reminiscences 

from  England  into  Worcester,  that  he  should  come  to  Worcester  to 
spend  his  ninetieth  birthday,  last  October,  in  Mr.  Pratt's  house, 
where  he  was  born.  But  he  was  not  well  enough  to  do  so.  When 
last  here,  he  visited  the  Rural  Cemetery ;  and  meeting  there  Waldo 
Lincoln  and  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Chandler  and  Josephine 
Rose,  he  kissed  the  children,  and  said,  '  I  should  be  glad  to  think 
they  would  remember  this.'  Speaking  of  Mrs.  Pratt,  passers-by 
used  to  leave  their  wagons  and  carriages,  and  stand  by  her  win- 
dow to  hear  her  play  the  spinet.  One  day  a  farmer,  who  had  en- 
joyed her  music,  emptied  his  leathern  purse  upon  the  window-sill, 
saying,  '  This  is  all  I  have.'  " 


IX.     Reminiscences  of  the  Earle  Family. 

BY  REV.  SAMUEL  MAY,  OF  LEICESTER. 

Dr.  Earle's  father  was  not  living  when  I  came  to  Leicester  in 
1833.  He  had  quite  recently  died.  There  had  been  five  brothers, 
sons  of  Robert  Earle,  namely:  Pliny,  father  of  Dr.  Pliny;  Jonah, 
one  of  whose  grandsons  is  Stephen  C.  Earle,  the  well-known  archi- 
tect of  Worcester  ;  Silas  ;  Henry  ;  and  Timothy, —  all  men  of  decided 
mechanical  ability,  all  engaged  in  the  then  new  and  curious  manu- 
facture of  card-clothing  and  of  the  machines  for  that  purpose,  and 
all  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Of  these  relatives  Dr.  Earle 
has  given  this  anecdote  :  — 

"  When  I  was  five  years  of  age,  my  uncle  Timothy,  then  one  of  our 
nearest  neighbors,  erected  a  saw  and  grist  mill  directly  south  of  the 
Friends'  Cemetery,  which  was  about  one-third  of  a  mile  from  our 
house.  When  the  nether  millstone  had  been  put  in  place,  a  group 
of  the  young  men  and  boys  of  the  neighborhood  were  one  morning 
at  the  mill  for  the  purpose  of  bathing.  Among  them  was  my  cousin 
Amos  S.  Earle,  the  subsequent  father  of  the  architect,  Stephen  C. 
Earle,  of  Worcester.  He  took  me  by  the  two  hands,  lifted  me  with 
my  arms  extended  upward,  one  on  each  side  of  my  head,  and  let 
me  down  through  the  millstone  into  the  low  apartment  below  it.  I 
have  never  had  much  occasion  to  laud  my  own  sagacity ;  but,  when 
people  have  magnified  that  perspicacity  which  is  implied  by  the  abil- 
ity to  see  through  a  millstone,  I  have  ventured  to  remark  that,  if 
such  ability  is  a  proof  of  intellectual  acuteness,  much  more  so  is  the 
fact  of  having  passed  bodily  through  a  millstone." 


I833-I840  ■  387 

They  lived  in  the  north-east  part  of  the  town,  where  there  was  a 
Friends'  meeting-house  standing  until  within  a  few  years,  in  the 
midst  of  their  burial-ground.  In  1833  regular  religious  meetings 
were  held  there  every  First  and  Fifth  Day.  But  I  believe  not  a  single 
Friend  or  Quaker  now  remains  in  the  town.  There  were  in  1833 
many  such  families. 

Dr.  Earle's  mother  was  then  living.  She  was  of  a  prominent 
Friends'  family.  Patience  Buffum,  of  Smithfield,  R.I.,  and  was  known 
generally  as  "Aunt  Patience"  to  the  time  of  her  death  in  1849. 
When  I  first  knew  her,  she  was  about  sixty-three  years  of  age,  a 
woman  of  tall  and  commanding  figure.  As  I  remember  her,  she  was 
of  unusually  large  frame  and  rather  masculine  in  appearance,  quiet 
in  manner,  slow  in  speech,  and  of  winning  voice.  She  was  a  greatly 
respected  and  influential  member  of  the  local  Society  of  Friends, 
and  also  prominent  in  their  monthly  and  quarterly  meetings,  which 
were  held  with  great  regularity  in  Bolton,  Northbridge,  Uxbridge, 
and  Leicester,  as  well  as  in  Rhode  Island.  She  was  probably  the 
leading  figure  in  their  society  here  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak. 

Before  as  well  as  after  the  death  of  Pliny  Earle,  Sr.,  the  house  be- 
came a  boarding-school  for  girls,  being  by  its  size  and  situation  well 
adapted  for  such  use.  Two  of  the  daughters,  Sarah  and  Eliza,  with 
their  mother  in  charge  of  the  house,  established  the  school.  It  be- 
came widely  known,  and  received  a  steady  support,  not  from  Friends 
alone.  Pupils  came  from  the  neighborhood,  from  Worcester,  and 
from  places  more  remote.  It  was  called  the  Mulberry  Grove  School, 
and  was  continued  by  the  sisters  until  their  marriage, —  Sarah  to  Mr. 
Charles  Hadwen,  of  Worcester,  and  Eliza  to  Mr.  William  E.  Hacker, 
of  Philadelphia. 

As  I  became  acquainted  with  the  family,  I  found  them  much  in- 
terested in  the  anti-slavery  movement,  and  far  in  advance  of  the 
community  generally.  "  Aunt  Patience's  "  brother,  Arnold  Buffum, 
had  been  the  first  president  of  the  New  England  Anti-slavery  So- 
ciety ;  and  that  fact,  doubtless,  brought  them  to  understand  and  be- 
come interested  in  that  movement.  Three  of  the  sons  of  Pliny  and 
Patience  Earle  took  a  very  active  part  in  it.  John  Milton  Earle,  who 
w^as  editor  of  the  Worcester  Spy,  was  a  strong  anti-slavery  man  as 
editor  and  legislator.  Thomas  Earle,  who  had  become  a  resident  of 
Philadelphia,  was  the  Liberty  party's  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presi- 
dency.    William  Buffum  Earle  Avas  an  effective  anti-slavery  writer, 


388  DR.  EARLE'S    studies    AND    PRACTICE 

and  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  movement  in  Worcester  County.  I  be- 
lieve that  Dr.  Earle  received  aid  from  his  brother  John  Milton  Earle, 
particularly  in  obtaining  his  education. 

When  I  first  knew  Dr.  Earle,  he  was  principal  of  the  Friends' 
School  at  Providence,  the  school  of  which  Mr.  Whittier  has  written, 
and  which  has  a  high  reputation  to  the  present  day.  In  1835  ^^  left 
that  position,  and  went  to  Philadelphia,  to  continue  there  the  study 
of  medicine  which  he  had  begun  while  connected  with  the  Friends' 
School.  He  completed  his  preparatory  studies  at  the  medical  school 
of  the  University  of  Penns5dvania,  was  graduated  from  there  in 
March,  1837  ;  and  in  April  went  to  Europe  for  two  years,  1837 
to  1839.  During  those  two  years  he  was  a  correspondent  of  the 
Worcester  Spy.  I  well  remember  his  full  and  careful  letters,  not 
simply  on  the  subjects  to  which  he  afterwards  became  so  much  de- 
voted, but  the  letters  of  a  traveller  and  close  observer  of  all  he  saw. 
They  were  valuable,  and  might  well  have  been  collected  in  book 
form. 

While  in  Europe  at  this  time  he  gave  special  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject of  insanity,  and  visited  many  asylums  for  the  insane,  so  that, 
when  he  came  back  to  this  country,  he  was  appointed  resident  physi- 
cian at  the  Friends'  Asylum  for  the  Insane  at  Frankford,  near  Phil- 
adelphia. There  he  remained  four  years,  and  was  then  appointed 
superintendent  of  the  Bloomingdale  Insane  Asylum  in  the  city  of 
New  York, —  a  responsible  and  difficult  position.  He  filled  it,  I  be- 
lieve, with  entire  satisfaction  and  credit,  remaining  in  it  about  five 
years.  I  once  visited  him  at  Bloomingdale,  and  he  showed  me  the 
hospital  and  its  methods.  I  saw  then  more  intimately  than  I  had 
ever  done  before  the  arrangements  of  an  insane  asylum,  and  how 
valuable  were  his  precise  methods  and  his  exactness  in  all  practical 
matters.  There  was  mechanical  genius  in  that  family,  as  I  have 
said;  and  this  talent  appeared  in  all  his  work.  He  was  afterwards  a 
visiting  physician  of  the  New  York  City  Lunatic  Asylum  on  Black- 
well's  Island,  and  held  the  place  for  two  years.  Then  his  health  be- 
came impaired,  and  he  came  home  to  Leicester  to  rusticate  and  re- 
cuperate. He  had  worked  hard  and  persistently  from  the  time 
when  he  began  his  active  life,  and  well  he  might  need  rest.  Leices- 
ter continued  his  home  till  1864,  though  during  that  time  he  went 
away  twice  to  assist  in  the  care  of  cases  of  insanity  occurring  among 
United  States  soldiers  and  seamen  at  the  Government  Hospital  for 


i8s5-i864  389 

the  Insane  near  Washington.  With  the  exception  of  these  intervals 
he  was  here  during  the  nine  years  from  1855  to  1864.  He  lived 
during  that  time  in  a  small  house  that  his  grandfather,  Robert  Earle, 
had  built  and  occupied,  still  in  the  family  and  now  belonging  to 
Stephen  C.  Earle.  It  was  called  "  the  grandfather-house,"  and  was 
of  but  one  story.  There  he  rested,  reading  and  perfecting  himself 
in  his  favorite  studies  during  nine  years.  He  also  much  enlarged 
his  fine  collection  of  shells  and  minerals,  which  he  afterwards  gave 
to  Leicester  Academy,  enclosed  in  the  handsome  cases  also  fur- 
nished by  him.  The  collection  is  conspicuous  at  the  Academy 
and  much  prized. 

It  was  inevitable  that  the  town  should  desire  his  service  as  one  of 
its  school  committee  ;  and  he  so  served  for  many  years,  doing  a 
very  valuable  work  in  raising  the  tone  of  the  schools.  He  aroused 
the  spirit  of  both  teachers  and  pupils  wherever  he  went  among  the 
schools.  There  had  been,  to  his  time,  no  member  of  the  school 
committee  whose  influence  had  been  so  important  and  marked  as 
his  since  I  have  known  the  schools  of  Leicester. 

In  the  establishment  of  our  public  library  his  influence  and  help 
were  decisive.  It  was  in  March,  1861.  The  owners  of  an  incorpo- 
rated library  of  about  800  volumes  (called  the  Leicester  Social 
Library)  had  proposed  to  give  it  to  the  town,  to  be  held  as  a  public 
library  for  all  the  inhabitants,  if  the  town  would  accept  it.  There 
was  doubt  in  the  minds  of  some  whether  the  town  would  take  it, 
with  the  responsibility  of  keeping  it  open  and  making  annual  appro- 
priations for  its  support.  But  they  did.  And  the  credit  of  doing  it 
belongs  in  no  small  degree  to  Dr.  Earle.  When  the  question  came 
up  in  the  town  meeting  of  March,  1861,  he  quietly  rose,  and  in  an 
impressive  way  made  the  motion  that  the  town  accept  and  hold  the 
library,  as  proposed  by  the  proprietors,  for  the  benefit  of  all  the 
inhabitants  ;  and  the  motion  prevailed  without  a  dissenting  voice  or 
vote.  I  was  much  interested  myself  in  the  success  of  the  library, 
and  well  remember  the  incident.  He  was  the  constant  friend  of  the 
library  all  his  life. 

On  the  2d  of  July,  1864,  the  trustees  of  the  State  Lunatic 
Asylum  of  Northampton  appointed  him  to  the  office  of  superintend- 
ent of  that  institution  ;  and  there  he  passed  the  rest  of  his  life,  a 
period  of  nearly  twenty-eight  years.  In  all  that  time,  whatever 
reports  of  his  professional  work  were  published,  he  invariably  sent 


39©  DR.   EARLE  S    BEQUESTS 

a  copy  to  the  Leicester  library.  He  was  a  little  given  to  writing 
poetry,  and  always  sent  us  his  publications.  At  his  death,  by  his 
will,  he  gave  $6,000  to  the  town  to  help  the  erection  of  a  library 
building,  which,  as  he  phrased  it,  should  be  "  worthy  of  the  town." 
He  gave  also  a.  portrait  of  himself  to  be  placed  in  the  library, — 
an  oil  painting  by  Burleigh,  a  handsome  and  very  good  likeness. 
Many  miscellaneous  volumes  of  his  private  library  were  given  to 
this  library  by  his  executors. 

He  came  to  Leicester  each  summer  after  he  got  through  with  his 
work  in  Northampton,  and  spent  several  weeks  in  the  vicinity  of  his 
early  home.  While  here,  he  effected  a  considerable  improvement  of 
the  Friends'  burying-ground.  He  also,  during  these  more  leisurely 
years,  compiled  and  published  his  genealogy  of  the  Earle  family. 


X.     Portions  of  Dr.  Earle's  Will. 

I,  Pliny  Earle  of  Northampton,  in  the  county  of  Hampshire  and 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  Physician,  being  of  sound  and 
disposing  mind  and  memory,  do  make  and  publish  this  my  last  will 
and  testament,  hereby  revoking  all  former  wills  by  me  at  any  time 
heretofore  made. 

I.  After  the  payment  of  my  funeral  expenses  and  my  debts  which 
I  possibly  may  owe,  although  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  owing  any- 
thing, I  direct  my  executors  hereinafter  named  to  set  apart  out  of  my 
estate  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars.  My  said  executors  and 
my  friend  Frank  B.  Sanborn  of  Concord,  Massachusetts,  shall 
consult  and  advise  with  each  other,  and  shall  determine  and  decide 
whether  said  three  thousand  dollars  or  part  thereof  shall  be  devoted 
to  preparing  my  biography,  or  to  collecting,  editing,  and  publishing 
my  writings  on  insanity  or  any  of  said  writings.  It  is  my  opinion 
that,  if  anything  of  this  nature  is  done,  it  would  be  best  to  prepare  a 
brief  account  of  my  life,  which  may  include  a  reference  to  the  places 
where  my  writings  can  be  found ;  but  I  leave  the  determination  of 
this  question  to  Mr.  Sanborn  and  my  said  executors.  If  they  shall 
decide  that  a  brief  biography  of  the  testator  is  desirable,  I  wish  Mr. 
Sanborn  to  prepare  it,  and  to  have  the  entire  charge  and  direction  of 
all  duties  of  a  literary  nature  pertaining  thereto.  For  his  labor  and 
services  my  executors  are  to  pay  the  said  Sanborn  a  liberal  compen- 


1892  391 

sation  out  of  said  sum  so  set  apart.  So  much  of  said  three  thousand 
dollars  as  shall  not  be  expended  in  the  manner  above  suggested  shall 
revert  to  my  estate. 

2.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  City  of  Northampton  one  hundred 
dollars  in  trust  to  pay  for  keeping  my  cemetery  lot  in  order  in  the 
future. 

[Sections  3,  4,  and  5  provide  for  legacies  to  his  nephews  and 
nieces,  generally  of  $3,000  each,  though  there  were  three  of  $4,000, 
one  of  $5,000,  and  to  a  wealthy  nephew  and  niece  $100  each.  These 
legacies  amounted  to  $41,250.] 

My  relations  with  all  my  nephews  and  nieces  have  been  very 
pleasant,  and  the  sums  hereinbefore  given  to  them  must  not  by  any 
means  be  considered  as  indicating  the  relative  measure  of  my  re- 
gard. 

6.  To  my  cousin  Ann  V.  Buffum  I  give  and  bequeath  one  thou- 
sand dollars. 

7.  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  North- 
ampton fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  securely  invested  until  the  same, 
with  the  rest  and  residue  of  my  estate  hereinafter  mentioned,  shall 
amount  to  at  least  sixty  thousand  dollars.  Then  this  whole  fund  of 
sixty  thousand  dollars  or  more  shall  be  kept  securely  invested  for- 
ever. Said  fund  shall  be  designated  as  the  "  Pliny  Earle  Aid  Fund  "  ; 
and  the  income  thereof  shall  be  used  in  aid  of  the  city  of  Northamp- 
ton in  defraying  the  necessary  current  expenses  of  the  Forbes  Li- 
brary, when  the  same  shall  be  ready  for  use.  The  words  "  neces- 
sary current  expenses  "  shall  be  construed  to  mean  in  this  bequest 
the  payment  of  employees  in  and  about  said  library,  and  the  furnish- 
ing of  fuel  and  lights  therefor,  but  shall  not  include  the  payment  of 
the  salary  of  the  librarian  for  said  library,  or  any  part  of  such  sal- 
ary or  compensation.  Although  this  fund  is  intended  to  be  supple- 
mentary to  the  "  Aid  Fund  "  established  in  his  will  by  the  late  Hon. 
Charles  E.  Forbes,  the  expenditure  of  the  income  of  the  fund 
herein  bequeathed  shall  be  strictly  confined  and  limited  to  the  ob- 
jects and  purposes  already  specified  and  set  forth  in  this  section. 

This  bequest  is  made  and  is  hereby  subject  to  the  following  con- 
ditions :  first,  that  the  city  of  Northampton  shall  forever  keep  the 
corpus  of  the  fund  herein  given  intact  to  an  amount  as  large  as 
sixty  thousand  dollars,  and  if,  by  reason  of  dishonesty,  bad  invest- 
ments, incompetency,  or  casualty  of   any  kind    the  principal  shall 


392  BEQUESTS    TO    LIBRARIES,  ETC. 

fall  below  that  sum,  the  City  of  Northampton  shall  within  two  years 
thereafter  make  good  the  deficit,  and  make  up  the  amount  of  in- 
come lost  by  reason  of  such  deficit ;  and,  second,  that  the  City  of 
Northampton  shall  not  expend  or  use  any  of  income  of  said  fund 
for  any  other  object  and  purpose  than  for  the  objects  and  purposes 
hereinbefore  specified  and  set  forth.  If  the  City  of  Northampton 
shall  fail  to  fairly  observe  and  comply  with  these  conditions  or  with 
either  of  them,  the  bequest  herein  made  to  said  city  shall  be  thereby 
revoked,  annulled,  void,  and  forfeited,  and  the  entire  fund  aforesaid 
shall  vest  in  three  trustees,  residents  of  said  Northampton,  whom 
the  Judge  of  Probate  for  the  county  of  Hampshire  or  his  successor 
shall  appoint  and  designate  under  this  will,  to  secure,  collect,  re- 
cover, and  receive  said  entire  fund,  with  all  accumulations  rightfully 
belonging  to  it,  and  said  trustees  shall  apply  and  manage  the  same 
in  the  establishment  of  a  Home  for  Aged  and  Invalid  Men.  Said 
Home  shall  be  located  in  said  Northampton,  and  shall  be  for  the 
benefit  and  comfort  of  aged  and  infirm  men  who  are  legal  residents 
of  the  city  of  Northampton  or  of  any  town  in  the  county  of  Hamp- 
shire, with  full  power  and  authority  to  said  trustees  to  carry  out 
the  purposes  and  spirit  of  this  conditional  bequest,  and  to  have 
entire  charge  and  direction  of  all  the  details  of  the  expenditures 
necessary  for  properly  establishing  and  managing  said  Home  ac- 
cording to  their  views,  judgment,  and  discretion.  I  recommend 
that,  when  said  Home  shall  have  been  established  in  a  manner  satis- 
factory to  said  trustees,  it  be  incorporated  in  a  manner  similar  to 
the  corporation  of  the  Home  for  Aged  and  Invalid  Women  in 
Northampton. 

8.  I  give  and  bequeath  six  thousand  dollars  to  the  town  of 
Leicester,  Massachusetts,  to  be  used  towards  the  erection  of  a  sub- 
stantial library  building  in  said  Leicester,  worthy  of  the  town, 

9.  To  the  Uxbridge  Monthly  Meeting  of  the  society  of  Friends 
I  give  and  bequeath  two  thousand  dollars  on  condition  that  within 
two  years  after  the  time  of  my  decease  the  society  shall  expend  fif- 
teen hundred  dollars  in  grading  the  Friends'  burial-ground  in 
Leicester,  Massachusetts,  in  building  the  wall  surrounding  it,  inputting 
up  an  iron  gate  with  granite  posts,  and  in  placing  new  gravestones 
therein.  I  hereby  direct  my  executors  to  deduct  from  the  amount  of 
this  bequest  whatever  money  I  have  furnished  or  shall  furnish 
towards  any  or  all  of  the  specific  objects  set  forth  in  this  section. 


1892  393 

10.  To  the  Home  for  Aged  and  Invalid  Women  in  Northampton 
I  give  and  bequeath  two  thousand  dollars  for  the  charitable  objects 
and  purposes  for  which  said  Home  was  created  and  established,  and 
is  designed  to  be  continued  and  perpetuated. 

11.  To  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty 
to  Children  I  give  and  bequeath  one  thousand  dollars. 

12.  To  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Animals  I  give  and  bequeath  one  thousand  dollars. 

13.  To  the  New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Society  I  give 
and  bequeath  one  thousand  dollars. 

14.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  executors  one  thousand  dollars 
each  in  lieu  of  compensation  for  their  services  in  that  capacity. 

15.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  niece  Frances  C.  Earle  *  my  Gene- 
vese  watch  with  monograms,  as  a  memento  of  our  tour  in  Europe,  in 
the  course  of  which  it  was  purchased.     [The  tour  was  in  187 1.] 

16.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  trustees  of  the  Forbes  Librarj^  in 
said  Northampton,  and  for  the  uses  of  said  library,  the  following 
books,  to  wit :  one  hundred  and  twelve  bound  volumes  of  the  American 
Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  a.  series  of  the  Medical  News  bound 
in  seven  volumes,  the  volumes  in  my  library  of  Reports  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  of  Reports  of  the  Board  of  State  Charities,  a  set  of 
twenty-two  Reports  of  the  Northampton  Lunatic  Hospital,  bound  in 
two  volumes,  and  covering  the  period  from  1864  to  1885  inclusive, 
and  all  the  genealogical  books  in  my  library. 

17.  In  no  event  shall  any  of  the  books  belonging  to  my  library, 
or  any  of  my  wearing  apparel,  trinkets,  articles  of  personal  ornament 
or  for  personal  use,  or  pictures,  or  portraits,  be  sold  for  the  procure- 
ment of  funds  for  the  payment  of  legacies.  They  may  be  given  to 
my  kindred,  friends,  or  other  persons,  at  the  discretion  of  my  execu- 
tors. 

18.  All  the  rest,  residue,  and  remainder  of  my  estate,  of  whatsoever 
kind  and  wherever  situated,  I  give,  devise,  and  bequeath  unto  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city  of  Northampton,  to  be  added  to  and  to  be- 
come and  constitute  part  and  parcel  of  the  "  Pliny  Earle  Fund  " 
bequeathed  by  Section  7  of  this  will,  and  to  be  used  in  all  respects 
for  the  objects  and  purposes  and  subject  to  the  conditions,  revoca- 
tion, annulment,  voidance  and  forfeiture,  and  subsequent  disposition 
more  fully  specified  and  set  forth  in  said  Section  7. 

*  On  page  279  this  name,  "  Frances"  should  be  substituted  for  "  Fanny." 


394  DR.  EARLE  S    LAST    WILL 

19.  I  hereby  constitute  and  appoint  my  nephew  Charles  A.  Chase 
of  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  my  niece  Anne  H.  Southwick  of  said 
Worcester,  and  my  niece  Sarah  E.  Hacker  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsyl- 
vania, executors  of  this  my  last  will  and  testament ;  and  I  hereby  em- 
power and  authorize  them  to  sell  and  convey  my  real  or  personal  estate, 
and  to  do  all  acts,  and  make  and  execute  all  papers  and  documents, 
which  may  be  convenient  or  necessary  for  the  prompt  and  efficient 
performance  of  their  duties  in  administering  my  estate.  I  also  re- 
quest that  the  Judge  of  Probate  will  not  require  any  surety  or  sure- 
ties on  the  bond  of  them,  or  either  of  them,  as  such  executors  or 
as  trustees,  should  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  will  require  their 
appointment  eo  nomine  as  trustees. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  sea),  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  three  witnesses  named  below  declare  this  to  be  my 
last  will  and  testament,  this  eighth  day  of  April  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-two. 

Pliny  Earle.     [Seal.] 

Signed,  sealed,  published,  and  declared  by  the  said  Pliny  Earle  as 
and  for  his  last  will  and  testament  in  presence  of  us,  who  in  his 
presence,  in  the  presence  of  each  other,  and  at  his  request  hereto 
subscribe  our  names  as  witnesses. 

(Signed)  Edward  B.  Nims. 

Lewis  F.  Babbitt. 
Timothy  G.  Spaulding. 


Hampshire  County,  ss. 
Registry  of  Probate. 

A  true  copy. 


Northampton,  Mass.,  June  13,  a.d.  1892. 
Attest:         Hubbard  M.  Abbot,  Register. 


INDEX. 


[In  a  volume  so  abounding  in  proper  names  of  persons  and  places,  a  complete  index  would  be 
half  as  long  as  the  book  itself.  The  reader  must,  therefore,  be  content  with  the  following,  which 
will  be  found  almost  all  that  he  needs.] 


Abbati,  in  Malta,  140. 

Abb^,  a  young,  115. 

Abbott,  Dr.  Benjamin,  of  Exeter,  vii,  37. 

Abhorrence  of  slavery  in  Europe,  107. 

Abolition  of  slavery  in  America,  21,  24-26,  57, 
108,  197,  202. 

Abolition  of  slavery  in  European  colonies,  82,87, 
100,  106,  219. 

Abolitionists,  21,  26,  58,  loS,  196,  198,  227,  240, 
258,  387. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  248,  252,  260. 

Abuse  of  the  insane,  vii,  96,  137,  155,  167,  174, 
'78,  331- 

Abuse  of  whipping  in  schools,  68. 

Academy  at  Exeter,  vii,  37;  at  Haverhill,  N.H., 
48 ;  at  Leicester,  g,  10,  48,  346,  389 ;  of  Sci- 
ences, Paris,  95. 

Acamania,  Greece,  135. 

Achmet  Aga,  Greece,  124. 

Ackworth  School,  England,  67,  73. 

Acquisitiveness  personified,  150. 

Acropolis  of  Athens,  in,  122,  143,  14S. 

Acute  insanity,  143,  155,  167,  169,  184. 

Adam's  sin  imputed,  20. 

Adams,  John  (President),  37,  44;  (a  color-blind), 
251,  290. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  21,  108,  251,  289. 

Address  of  Dr.  Earle  (to  a  Flower),  147 ;  at  Chi- 
cago, xiv,  269,  277;  at  Boston,  159;  at  Pitts- 
field,  169,  254;  at  Saratoga,  31 1-3 13. 

Adoption  of  new  tables,  267,  312,  373. 

Adriatic  Sea,  114,  117,  138. 

Adroit  reply,  16,  84. 

.ffigean  Sea,  131,  138. 

./Esculapius,  30,  100,  148. 

Affair  in  the  diligence,  115;  in  gondola,  117; 
with  guide,   125. 

After-care  of  the  insane,  168,  278. 

Aggregations  of  the  insane,  159,  180,  183,  276, 
312. 

Agora  of  Athens,  121,  128. 

Agassiz,  Louis,  his  lectures  in  Charleston,  192, 
193,  196. 

Alcott,  A.  Bronson,  25,  30,  199,  293,  315. 


Alderson,  Dr.,  64;  Amelia  !(Mrs.  Opie),  61,  64, 
69,  72-74- 

Aldham,  William  (English  Quaker),  87,  89. 

Alienists  mentioned,  94,  98,  154,  156,  158,  166, 
etc. 

Allen,  Charles,  70. 

Allen,  William,  of  London,  61,  67,  76,  78. 

Allston,  Washington,  195,  381. 

Almsgiving,  65,  130. 

Almshouse  at  New  York,  220;  at  Tewksbury, 
137,  221,  265. 

Almshouse,  the  Blockley  (Philadelphia),  97. 

Almy's  Hotel,  Havana,  202,  216. 

Alps,  crossed  by  Dr.  Earle,  115;  of  the  Tyrol, 
176. 

Alsace,  asylums  in,  179. 

Altitude  of  mountains,  46,  115. 

Alt-Scherbitz,  asylum  at,  164-166,  178,  275,  301. 

Amelia  Pottingen,  36. 

Amelioration  of  insane  treatment,  ix-xiii,  95,  97, 
165,  174,  27s,  278. 

America  and  Europe,  13,  61,  79. 

American  alienists,  viii-xiv. 

American  ancestors  of  Dr.  Earle,  1-4. 

American  architecture,  53,  226. 

American  Association  of  Medical  Superintend- 
ents, 259,  269,  2S0,  298,  311,  384. 

American  asylum  (Hartford),  29,  51,  52. 

American  asylums  for  the  insane,  viii,  x-xii,  52, 
So,  137,  146,  151,  154-162,  166,  175,  176,  186, 
188,  223,  236,  239,  241,  245,  246,  252,  254-257, 
259-279,  362. 

American  colleges:  Ann  Arbor,  255;  Bowdoin, 
45;  Brown,  34-36;  Dartmouth,  48;  Harvard, 
35;  Jefferson  Medical,  56,  144;  South  Caro- 
lina, 192,  196. 

American  commanders  in  Civil  War,  239,  241, 
242-248,  250,  256,  259. 

American  Journal  0/  Medical  Sciences,  154, 
161,  187,  296,  319,  349. 

American  Journal  0/  Insafiity,  186,  280,  293, 
294,  296,  318. 

American  missionaries,  79;  at  Athens,  121,  128; 
in  Turkey,  133,  i34- 


396 


A  jnericano,  ii6. 

American  party  ("  Know-nothings"),  224,  231. 
American  physicians:  their  practice,   101;  bleed 
freely,  144,  iSg. 

American  Presidents  inaugurated,  sg,  235 ;  their 
levees,  223,  232,  24S-250,  255,  260. 

American  Quakers,  3,  49,  58,  75 ;  divide  doctri- 
nally,  17,  24,  75;  their  attitude  towards  slav- 
eO',  25,  57,  196,  19S,  225,  387 ;  towards  schools, 
30,  49 ;  maintain  an  insane  asylum,  146,  388. 

American  Social  Science  Association,  320,  384. 

American  slaver)',  25,  57,  77,  105-107,  190-195, 
198,  219,  240,  257,  25S. 

American  statistics  of  insanity,  xi,  154,  158,  161, 
1S2,  187,  265,  267,  271,  313,  372. 

Amsterdam  visited,  in,  1S3. 

Anatolia  (Asia  Minor)  visited,  130,  136,  138. 

Ancestry  of  Dr.  Earle,  1-3  ;  of  the  artist  Earles, 
319,  378-382. 

Andemach,  Germany,  167. 

Andrews,  American  consul,  143. 

Anecdote  of  Dr.  Brigham,  221 ;  of  Elias  Hicks, 
17-19;  of  Isaac  Hopper,  17;  of  W.  B.  Earle, 
385. 

Anemones  in  Greece,  127,  147. 

Angelina  Grimk^  (Mrs.  Weld),  25,  83,  86,  198, 
201. 

Ann,  Cape,  43. 

Anne  Knight  (English  Quakeress),  84,  100,  108, 
no,  282. 

Ajtti-Jacobhi,  quoted,  39,  115. 

Anti-masonry,  21. 

Anti-slavery,  21,  24-26,  56,  57,  196,  198,  219,  258; 
in  England,  77,  82,  87,  109;  in  France,  100,  106. 

Aphorism6s  in  Greece,  125,  127. 

Appearance  of  a  paretic,  161,  189. 

Appendix  (Dr.  Earle's  writings,  etc.),  320-394. 

Appointment  of  Dr.  Earle  at  Bloomingdale,  151, 
j6i;  at  Blackwell's  Island,  16S;  at  North- 
ampton, 260;  at  Washington,  241. 

Area  of  German  States  (Appendix),  334-339- 

Areopagus  of  Athens,  127,  147. 

Aristocracy  of  England,  63,  78,  91,  100. 

Arnold,  Miss  Elizabeth,  89,  no,  286. 

Arnold  family  of  New  Bedford,  89,  in;  of 
Rhode  Island,  29;  of  Wales,  14. 

Arnold,  James,  in. 

Artlmr,  Captain,  33. 

Artists,  32,  33,  390;  in  the  Earle  family,  379-3S2. 

Asat  Yakoob  (a  convert),  70. 

Asia  Minor,  130,  136,  137. 

Asnebumskit  (a  hill),  2,  14,  119,  125,  214. 

Aspersion  of  Dr.  Earle,  267,  274. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  38. 

Astrology  and  astronomy,  132,  257. 

Asylum  for  the  deaf,  29,  51,  279. 

Asylums  for  the  insane:  in  America  (see  Ameri- 
can asylums);  in  Europe,  vii,  xv,  95-98,  163- 
186,   325,— viz.,   in   Austria,    i73-'77.   >8i;    in 


Baden,  171;  in  Bavaria,  177,  178,  337;  in  Bel- 
gium, 163,  271,  275,  317;  in  Berlin,  170;  in 
Constantinople,  136,  330;  in  England,  303, 
321;  in  France,  95-98,  18S,  324;  in  Holland, 
no,  182,  322;  in  Germany,  163-186,  334:  in 
Italy,  329;  in  Malta,  148;  in  Nassau,  168;  in 
Prussia,  166,  169,  330,  335;  in  Saxony,  165, 
170,  178,  334;  in  Turkey,  333. 

Athenian  adventures,  123,  128. 

Athens  approached,  120;  brigands  in,  124; 
schools  in,  125  ;  visited,  121-128;  university  of, 
128;  in  1832,  122;  in  1S96,  121. 

Attraction  of  travel,  29,  iSS,  202,  292. 

Atticus,  Herodes:  his  Attic  estates,  121,  125. 

Attitude  of  alienists  towards  curability,  xi,  270, 
311. 

Audiences  at  Charleston,  192,  193;  at  Chicago, 
269;  at  insane  asylums,  155,  298;  at  Pittsfield, 
254. 

August  on  Mt.  Washington,  46. 

Augusta  (Me.),  hospital  at,  272. 

Augustus  Earle,  319,  379,  381. 

Austria  visited  by  Dr.  Earle,  173  ;  by  Mr.  San- 
bom,  175,  iSi. 

Authors  read,  14,  in,  113,  141,  288. 

Authorship,  147,  149,  163,  186,  255,  264,  283,  317. 

Available  labor  of  patients,  143,  160,  166,  168, 
177,  179,  263,  2S4,  298,  299. 

Avienus  (Festus  Rufus),  quoted,  2S7. 

Babel-Tower  (Vienna),  174. 

Babies  taught  to  read,  6. 

Bacon,  Francis,  mentioned,  95,  156. 

Backhouse  family,   England,  62,  64,  70,  86,  87, 

90,  105. 
Baden,  Grand-duchy  of,  184. 
Bairam,  feast  of,  136. 
Baird,  Robert,  in  Paris,  104. 
Balls  at  Charieston,   192-195;   in  Cuba,  210;  in 

Dresden,  291;  at  Eagleswood,  200 ;  at  Leubus, 

291;  in  Washington,  231,  238. 
Bancroft,  Aaron,  385 ;  George  (son  of  Rev.  Dr. 

Aaron),  279,  385;  Dr.  J.  P.,  x,  280. 
Banks,  N.  P.,  223,  224,  229,  231. 
Baptists  in  Providence,  34. 
Barber,  Dr.  (phrenologist),  150. 
Barber,  Richard,  English  epileptic,  221. 
Barber  in  Cuba  (Dr.  Earle),  211. 
Barclay  of  Uri,  his  descendants,  17,  64,  71. 
Bartlett,  Dr.  Elisha,  40,  94,  356. 
Bath,  N.H.,  47. 

Bathing  in  asylums,  g6,  169,  323,  328. 
Battle  of   Marathon,   126;   with   Attic  brigands, 

124. 
Battles  of  the  Civil  War,  242,  245,  247,  259. 
Bavaria,  its  asylums,  178. 
Bay  of  Matanzas,  214;  of  Havana,  202;   of  St. 

Paul,  Malta,  141. 
Bears  in  New  Hampshire,  45. 


397 


Beasts  of  burden,  41,  207,  351. 

Beck,  Edward,  70,  79,  85 ;  Richard,  69. 

Bedford  (afterwards  New  Bedford),  31,  32,  no. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  254. 

Beggars  in  Europe,  130. 

Belief  of  the  Friends,  20,  2S7. 

"Bell  at  Edmonton,"  79,  81. 

Bell,  Catherine,  ancestress  of  the  Gurneys,  64. 

Bell,  Dr.  Luther  V.  (American  alienist),  x,  145, 

158,  271,  303,  375 ;  his  change  of  view,  273. 
Belles  of   Charleston,    192,    195;    of  Cuba,   203, 

217;  of  Washington,  226,  238. 
Benevolence  of  Quakers,  65,  76,  281. 
Benjamin,  Rev.  N.  (missionary),  121. 
Berean  (Quaker  periodical),  19. 
Bergmann  (German  alienist),  169,  337. 
Berlin  visited,  169,  275. 
Berri,  Duchess  of,  96. 
"Betsy  Fry"  (the  philanthropist),  74,  89. 
Bible  in  Quaker  families,  7,  65,  67,  105,  150,  281. 
Bible  Society,  mentioned,  19,  105. 
Bicetre    (French    insane    asylum),   95,   97,    137, 

323,  324-326- 
Binney,  Horace,  ig. 
Birmingham,  England,  61,  77. 
Bimey,   James  G.,  Presidential  candidate,  198, 

199. 
Bishops  of  the  Anglican  Church,  38,  63,  65,  66. 
Blackwell's  Island  Asylum,  162,  220,  388. 
Bleeding  in  medicine,  144,  155,  171,  189,  318. 
Blindness  to  colors,  342-361. 
Bloomingdale  Asylum,  New  York,  151,  154-162, 

18S,  356,  388. 
Blue  Room,  Washington,  233,  249. 
Boarding  out  the  insane,  xv,  278. 
Boarding-school  at  Ackworth,  68,   75  ;  at  Croy- 
don, 71. 
Board  of  Charities  (Massachusetts),  xii,  260,  262, 

267. 
Board  of  Lunacy  and  Charity,  267,  375. 
Board  of  Lunacy,  Scotland,  275,  308. 
Board  of  Trustees,  Northampton,  279. 
Bodily  disease  and  insanity,  281. 
Bonn,  Germany,  164,  166. 
Borderland  of  insanity,  ix,  175,  221. 
Bosphorus  visited,  137. 
Boston,  mentioned,   39,  41,  43,  48,  58,  59,   105, 

116,  142,  159,  185,  261. 
Botanical  studies,  23,  31,  128,  139,  259,  350. 
Bowdoin  College,  43. 
Boyce,  Mrs.  Ann,  69,  74. 
Boyhood  of  Dr.  Earle,  6-13,  386. 
Boys  at  English  schools,  67,  71 ;  at  Hartford,  51 ; 

at  London,  2S6 ;  at  Providence,  42,  49. 
Bozzaris,  Marco  (the  man),  32;   the  poem,  32; 

the  steamer,  31,  32. 
Brace,  Julia  (deaf,  dumb,  and  blind),  51. 
Braithwaites,  English  Quakers,  62,  77,  86,  90. 
Brattleboro  Asylum,  x,  176. 


Brethren  in  the  profession,  x,  280. 

Brigands  in  Attica,  124,  125. 

Brigham,  Dr.  A.  (of  Utica),  158,  221,  293-295. 

Bright,  John,  English  statesman,  6g,  99,  301. 

(Brighthelmstone),  Brighton,  Eng.,  71. 

Bristed,  Rev.  John,  38. 

Bristol,  R.I.,  38. 

Britain,  Great,  visited  by  Dr.  Earle,  61-91 ;  re- 
visited, 274,  285. 

British  girls,  88. 

British  traits,  78-80. 

Brochure  of  a  Quaker  wit,  88;  of  Dr.  Tuke,  183. 

Brooks,    Preston   S.   (assailant  of  Sumner),  230. 

Brougham,  Lord,  86,  109. 

Brown  family  of  Providence,  35. 

Brown,  John,  of  Kansas,  200,  238. 

Brown,  Moses,  35,  22S. 

Brown,  Postmaster-general,  237. 

Brown  University,  34,  35;  professors  of,  36. 

Browne,  Dr.  W.  F.  A.,  375. 

Brownell,  George,  of  Lowell,  39. 

Bryant,  W.  C,  the  poet,  126. 

Buchanan,  James,  President  (1857-61),  224,  230, 
232,  234,  235,  251. 

Bufifington,  James,  M.C.,  231,  253. 

Buffum,  Arnold,  21,  30,  41,  44,  49,  63,  199,  340, 
387- 

Buffum,  David,  49,  356. 

Buffum,  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Chace),  30,  41. 

Buffum  family,  color-blindness  of,  349-350,  356, 
361. 

Buffum,  Lavinia,  15. 

Buffum,  Patience  (Dr.  Earle's  mother),  i,  6,  9, 
14-16,  24,  42,  152,  187,  299,  385,  387. 

Buffum,  Rebecca,  (wife  of  Arnold),  199. 

Buffum,  Rebecca  (Mrs.  Marcus  Spring),  30, 
41,  42,  8r,  190-194.  199.  313. 

Buffum,  Thomas,  29,  356. 

Buffum,  William,  29,  356. 

Bumside,  Gen.  A.  E.,  243,  244. 

Burke,  Edmund,  66,  157. 

Butler,  A.  P.  (South  Carolina  senator),  230. 

Butler,  B.  F.,  of  Massachusetts,  24,  245. 

Butler,  Cyrus,  of  Providence,  307. 

Butler,  Fanny  Kemble,  quoted,  57. 

Butler  Hospital,  308. 

Butler,  John  S.  (alienist),  x,  159. 

Buxton,  Thomas  Fowell,  61-65,  72,  83,  86,  87. 

Byron,  Lady,  mentioned,  71,  124. 

Byron,  Lord,  quoted,  113,  129,  139,  150;  men- 
tioned, 126,  133-135. 

Cage  for  lunatics,  viii,  174,  331. 

Calhoun,  J.  C,  of  Carolina,  106,  195. 

Calmeil  (French  alienist),  198. 

Calvinism  among  the  Quakers,  16,  20,  24,  76,  228. 

Calypso  and  her  islands,  139. 

Camisoles  (strait  jackets),  165,  167,  324. 

Canada,  56,  107. 


398 


Canals  of  Venice,  iiS. 
Canaris  (Greek  admiral),  33. 
Candidates  for  medical  degrees,  56,  1S5. 
Candidates  for  the  Presidency,  37,  107,  216,  224, 

230,  236,  251. 
Candles  in  churches,  129,  138,  204. 
Candor  of  Dr.  Earle,  60,  163,  256,  313. 
Cane-fields  in  Cuba,  208,  214. 
Canning,  George,  quoted,  36,  135. 
Captains  of  Greek  vessels,  33  ;  of  whale-ships, 

33- 
Capuchins  in  Malta,  140. 
Cardenas  in  Cuba,  209-213. 
Care  of  the  insane  in  asylums,  viii-xiv,  96,   143, 

145.  15s.  159.  161.  166.   167-172.   175.   i77>  178- 

182,  245,  246,  254,  261-265,  275,  277,  309,  314, 

321-333,  363-371- 
Care  of  the  insane  in  families,  xiv,  275,  278. 
Carolina,  South,  visited,  190-195. 
Caroline  (Canadian  steamer),  107. 
Card-making  by  the  Earie  famiij',  2,  5,  9,  11-13, 

3S6. 
Card-playing,  255,  2S5. 
Carriages  in  America,  11,  29;  in  Cuba,  203,  210  ; 

in  England,  70,  78;  in  France,  78,  loi ;  in  the 

Alps,  115. 
Cases  and   persons  in  recoveries,  267,  302,  313, 

373- 
Cass,  Lewis  (American  statesman),  37,  loi,  107, 

119,  225. 
Catholic  abbe,  115. 
Catholic  ceremonies,  204,  211. 
Catholics  at   Christmas,    54 ;    at  Paris,   84 ;    at 

Malta,  13S. 
Causes  of  insanity,   154,  297 ;  of  death,  145,  160 ; 

of  recovery,  313. 
Ceiba,  a  tropical  tree,  208. 
Chace,  Mrs.  E.  B.,  30,  42. 
Chaining  the  insane,  95,  97,  133,  137,  324,  331. 
Chalons,  France,  119. 

Chamber  of  Deputies,  Paris,  106;  of  the  Ameri- 
can .Senate,  226,  229,  230. 
Champs  iSlysees,  Paris,  106. 
Channing,  EUerj' (Concord  poet),  quoted,  11. 
Channing,  Walter  (father  of  Ellery),  58. 
Channing,    William    Ellery,    D.D.    (brother    of 

Walter),  58,  59,  283. 
Chaptal,  French  chemist,  97,  98,  loi. 
Charborough,  English  seat  of  the  Earles,  i. 
Charenton  asylum,  97,  1S8,  327. 
Charitd,  French  hospital,  119  ;  in  Berlin,  169. 
Charities,  Board  of,  xii,  260,  262,  267,  375. 
Charities,  Conference  of,  xiv,  278,  309,  320. 
Charities  of  Paris,  97,  109. 
Charles  I.  of  England,  i,  2. 
Charleston,  S.C,  25,  190,  195,  198,  378-381. 
Charlestown,  W.  Va.,  196. 
Chase,   Anthony  (brother-in-law  of   Dr.   Earle), 

21,  380. 


Chase,  Charles  A.  (son  of  Anthony),  391-394. 

Chase,  Lucy  and  Sarah,  3S5. 

Chase,  Pliny  Earle  (son  of  Anthony),  238. 

Chase,  Salmon  Portland  (statesman),  252. 

Chasing  a  Greek,  123. 

Chastisement  of  the  insane,  vii,  ix,  96,  177,  178, 

327- 
Chateau  of  Chillon,  114. 
Cheating  the  insane,  146,  277. 
Chemical  restraint,  160,  167,  171. 
Chenda  (Richenda  Gumey,  sister  of  Mrs.  Frj'), 

73- 
Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  58. 
Chillon,  114. 

"  Childe  Harold,"  quoted,  113,  117,  129,  139. 
Children  of  Pliny  Earle,  Sr.,  4,  6,  21,  26,  313. 
Children  of  Israel,  loS,  132. 
Chimerical  theories  of  curability,  270-273. 
Chios  (Scio),  131,  138. 
Choate,  Dr.;G.  C.  S.  (alienist),  x,  255. 
Choice  of  profession,  21,  27,  314. 
Cholmondeley  (an  English  famil}'),  66. 
Chorophylakes,  125. 

Christ  Jesus,  mentioned,  17,  18,  129,  326. 
Christianity,  130,  157,  225,  228,  281,  287. 
Christmas  in  Philadelphia,  54 ;  in  Europe,  136. 
Churches  in  Cuba,  204,  210;  in  Greece,  129;  in 

Washington,  225,  227,  229. 
Cicero,  mentioned,  301. 
Ciconium  }naculatum,  tried,  155. 
Cigars  in  Cuba,  202  ;  in  England,  So. 
Circus  (Stadium)  of  Herodes  Atticus,  121. 
Citadel  of  Athens,  122;  of  Malta,  142. 
Citadhie  (a  French  cab),  103 . 
Citizens  of  Athens,  121-123;  of  Cuba,   203;  of 

Paris,   99 ;   of  London,   63 ;    of  Philadelphia, 

55.  228. 
City  of  Havana,  203  ;  of  Washington,  223-237. 
Civility  of  Spaniards,  216. 
Civilization  in  America,  13,  56,  195 ;  in  England, 

So. 
Civil  War  in  -'Vmerica  (1S61-1865),  197,  238,  240, 

244,  247,  251-253,  25s.  256,  259,  260. 
Civil  War  in  Cuba,  219;  in  Hungary,  181. 
Clinical   instruction  in   asylums,    169,    184,    185, 

253. 
Coaching  in  England  in  1837,  61,  78.! 
Coat  of  the  Quakers,  16,  80,  81,  353. 
Cock-fight  in  Cuba,  211. 
Cocoa  palms,  Cuba,  206. 
Coeducation  of  Quaker  children,  36,  49,  67,  68, 

71.  75- 
Coffee,  how  grown  in  Cuba,  209 ;  how  made  in 

Europe,  142. 
Cognomen  of  Yankees  (Jonathan  Doolittle),  41, 

79- 
Collection  of  European  plants,  128,  143,  147. 
Colonel   Trumbull  (historical  painter),  53,  378, 

380. 


399 


Colonial  life  in  Cuba,  210-21S. 

Colonization  of  the  insane,  276,  277. 

Colony  of  Gheel,  163,  275,  317. 

Columbia,  District  of,  223. 

Columbus,  his  burial,  204,  205 ;  epitaph,  204. 

Comet  of  1834,  52- 

Comitat  of  Buda,  iSi. 

Commissions  of  Lunacy,  275,  27S,  375. 

Commission,  Sanitary,  23S,  255. 

Committee  of  the  Conference  of  Charities,  27S. 

Communication  in  war  time,  248. 

Community-asylum  of  Gheel,  317. 

Concord  CMass.),  11,  156,  225,  245,  378-580;  Con- 
cord (N.H.),  48. 

Conference  of  Charities,  xiv,  27S,  309,  320. 

Conferences  in  Paris,  83,  104,  no. 

Congress  in  session,  218,  223,  225,  229,  238,  244, 
250. 

Congressmen,  195,  216,  223,  236,  23S,  245,  251, 
252,  258. 

Connecticut,  the  river,  47;  the  State,  51,  52, 
246,  379. 

Connection  between  asylums  and  hospitals,  159, 
162,  165,  169,  17s,  183,  1S4,  239,  241,  245,  277. 

Constantinople,  113,  133,  137,  142,  178,  194,  308, 
330. 

Conway,  Martin  F.  (in  Congress  from  Kansas), 
245. 

Conway,  Moncure  Daniel,  225,  227. 

Co-operation  in  care  of  the  insane,  303,  309. 

Cooper  River  in  Carolina,  191. 

Copenhagen,  171. 

Copley  (American  artist),  378,  380. 

Corfu,  scenes  in,  129,  130. 

Corinth,  120. 

Coronation  of  Victoria,  91,  384. 

Corn-fields  in  Cuba,  208. 

Cotton  in  Carolina,  195 ;  cotton  manufacture, 
5,  12. 

Count  of  Paris,  106,  112. 

Counts  Orsoni  and  Ugoni  (Italians),  103. 

Coiu^-house  scene,  221. 

Cousins  of  Dr.  Earle,  30,  42,  49,  Si,  94,  no, 
313.  349>  356,  391- 

Cousins  of  the  Gumeys  of  Earlham,  64,  72,  74, 
86,  88,  105,  282. 

Co\\'per,  quoted,  79. 

Coxe,  Sir  James,  275. 

Crackers  of  Georgia,  197. 

Crag  of  Mount  Hope,  31;  of  Mount  Washing- 
ton, 46. 

Crawford  family  of  the  White  Mountains,  44-47. 

"  Crazy  doctors,"  145,  260,  270. 

Creation  and  miracle,  287. 

Creature-comforts  of  Friends,  80,  85,  log. 

Crisis  of  the  Civil  War,  242-250. 

Critical  writings  of  Dr.  Earle,  145,  189,  317-320. 

Crockett,  David,  116. 

Crops  in  Cuba,  206-210. 


Cross  and  Crescent,  135. 

Crowding  of  insane  hospitals,  159,  181. 

Crowds  at  the  White  House,  223,  232,  249. 

Croydon,  school  at,  71. 

Cruel  vivisection,  92,  1 19. 

Cruel    treatment   of  the  insane,  vii,  95-97,  137, 

155,  174,  177,  33'- 
Crying  of  the  insane,  365. 
Cuba,  a  colony  of  Spain,  202-219,  292. 
Cuba  and  Fanny  Martini,  292. 
Cuba  and  the  slave-trade,  218. 
Cuban  amusements,  205,  206,  210-213,  2i5- 
Cuban  army  in  1852,  210;  Cuban  churches,  204, 

2io;  their  worshippers,  204,  211. 
Cuban  bull-fight,  212. 

Cuban  climate,  203,  208;  country  life,  207-211. 
Cuban  festivals,  210-215;  furniture,  217. 
Cuban  houses,  207,  208;  in  Havana,  203 ;  their 

inmates,  215,  217. 
Cuban  indolence,  218;  its  causes,  218. 
Cuban  insurrection,  210,  219;    cultivated  crops, 

203,   208,  2IO. 

Cuban  landscape,  202,  208,  214. 
Cuban  machetes,  208 ;  their  use,  209. 
Cuban  manners,  202,  206,  211,  214,  216,  217. 
Cuban  negligence,  208;   negroes,  206,  209,  211, 

218. 
Cuban  plantations,  207;  of  coffee,  210;   and  of 

sugar,  208. 
Cuban  roads,  210;  rebels,  210. 
Cuban  sugar-making,  209. 
Cuban  surrender  to  the  United  States,  219. 
Curability  of  the  insane,  xi,   166,   175,  182,   187, 

262,  281,  302,  312,  318,  372. 
Curability  of  Insanity  (the  volume),  318. 
Cures,  how  recorded,  272;   often  repeated,  3761 
Cures  reported  diminishing,  182. 
Cursory  view  of  recoveries  for  60  years,  374-377. 
Curtis,  Judge  B.  R.,  229. 
Custody  of  the  insane,  xiv. 
Customs  of  the  English,  78 ;  of  the  French,  78, 

99;  of  the  Greeks,  120;  of  the  Turks,  136. 
Cyclades,  138. 
Cypresses  in  Turkey,  137. 

Daily  routine  of  asylums,  254,  298,  299. 

Dalton,  Dr.,  color-blind,  344,  358. 

Damascus,  mentioned,  140. 

Damerow,  Dr.  (German  alienist),  164,  165,   180, 

295. 
Daniels  (a  journalist),  21. 
Daniel  Webster  (American  statesman),  37,   195, 

216. 
Dan  Jenkins,  7. 

"Dante"  (French  steamer),  131. 
Danube,  18 1. 
Danvers   Hospital,  exxessive  cost  of,  268,   311, 

312. 

Danvers  Hospital,  recoveries  at,  312. 


400 


Dartmouth  (a  town),  2 ;  a  college,  37,  48,  356. 

Dam-in,  Erasmus,  74;  Charles,  319,  381. 

Davis,  Mrs.  P.  W.,  igq,  200. 

Days  of  the  week,  Quaker  style,  40,  387- 

Deaf  children,  29,  51,  279,  367. 

Dean  Swift,  mentioned,  112. 

Death  and  Mind,  281,  287,  362. 

Death  of  Dr.  Earle,  315;  of  Mary  Earle,  314;  of 
Patience  Earle,  187  j  of  Sarah  Earle,  42. 

Death-rate  of  the  insane,  265,  266. 

Deaths  at  Blackwell's  Island,  162,  220;  atTewks- 
bury,  220. 

Deceiving  the  insane,  146. 

Deceptive  statistics,  187,  271,  374. 

Deerfield,  N.H.,  24. 

Demoniac  possession,  viii. 

Descent  of  the  American  Earles,  1-3,  37S. 

Despondency,  187,  274. 

Detention  of  the  insane,  xiv,  278. 

De  Wolf  family,  31,  37. 

Dialogues  with  patients,  8i,  87,  96,  323,  329. 

Diaries  of  Dr.  Earle,  29-34,  36-39,  48-53,  69-72, 
76,  77,  85-89,  95,  100,  107,  no,  199,  202-21S, 
223-227,  232-236,  240,  244-255,  257-260. 

Dickens,  Charles  (novelist),  61,  289,  291. 

Dickinson,  Miss  Anna,  her  speech,  256. 

Diligence  (French  coach),  78;  Italian  coach,  115. 

Dinners  in  Europe,  102,  104,  142;  in  Washing- 
ton, 237,  243,  247. 

Dionyso  in  Attica,  125. 

"Dipper,"  the  constellation,  198. 

Discord  among  the  Quakers,  17-20,  228,  286. 

Dispute  over  Curability,  xi,  270,  302,  312. 

Dissipation  in  Charleston,  192-195;  in  Cuba, 
211-214;  in  Washington,  226,  237. 

Distribution  of  the  insane,  220,  264,  265,  278. 

District  asylums,  276. 

Dix,  Miss  Dorothea  L.,  xii,  xv,  246,  250,  256,  261, 
262;  her  mission,  305-307,  309,  314;  her  limita- 
tions, 306,  308 ;  friendship  for  Dr.  Earle,  305, 
309.  3'o- 

Doctors  of  medicine,  mentioned:  Bancroft,  J.  P., 
x;  Bartlett,  E.,  40,  94,  356;  Bates,  272;  Bell, 
L.  v.,  145,  273,  303;  Hergmann,  i6g;  Brigham, 
158,  221,  293-295;  Brown,  D.  T.,  235;  Browne, 
W.  F.  A.,  375;  Butler,  J.  S.,  159;  Calmeil, 
188;  Chandler,  G.,  x,  386;  Channing: 
Walter,  Sr.,  58;  Damerow,  164,  165,  180; 
Esquirol,  327;  P'errier,  Miss,  100;  Fer- 
rus,  95;  Flemming,  171;  Flint,  of  North- 
hampton, 40 ;  Focke,  167;  Forel,  253;  Fother- 
gill,  74;  Gall,  59;  Gait,  27.;  Godding,  W.  W., 
254-256,  300;  Griscom,  49;  Hare,  54;  Hol- 
brook,  196;  Holmes,  O.  W.,  10,  94,  185; 
Howe,  S.  G.,  xiv,  59,  98,  238,  305;  Idcler, 
169;  Jacob!,  164,  166,  170;  Jarvis,  Edward,  x, 
156;  Jcsscn,  171;  Julius,  303;  Kirkbride,  x; 
Klotz,  170;  Laehr,  164,  180,  294;  Leuret,  95; 
Martini,  164,   171-173,  290;  Millingen,  Julius, 


'33)  136;  Mitchell,  A.,  275,  375;  Nichols,  223, 
ei  seq.;  Nims,  266,  279;  Nugent,  301; 
Paetz,  165,  179;  Pienitz,  171,  172;  Pinel, 
96,  324;  Ranney,  M.,  220;  Ray,  x,  xi,  145, 
158,  221,  303;  Riedel,  170,  176;  Rockwell, 
176;  Roederer,  180;  Roeser,  123  ;  Roller,  171; 
Rush,  B.,  viii,  144;  Sawj'er,  300;  Snell,  167, 
301;  Spurzheim  (alienist),  164;  Spurzheim 
(phrenologist),  59 ;  Stevens,  255 ;  Symmachus 
(Roman  physician),  185;  Thumam,  J.,  ix, 
302,  304;  Todd,  159;  Tschallener,  176;  Tuke, 
D.  H.,  300-302;  Van  Deventer,  183;  Viz- 
sanik,  173-175;  Walker,  C,  x;  Warren, 
Mason,  91:  Williams,  C.  H.,  304;  Wise, 
P.  M.,  162;  Woodward,  R.,  356;  Woodward, 
S.,  ix,  X,  154,  166,  310;  Worthington,  300; 
Zeller,  179. 

Doctrine  of  easy  curability,  xi,  270;  refuted  by 
Dr.  Earle,  xiv,  302. 

Domestic  industry,  10 ;  suited  to  the  insane,  284. 

Domo  d'  Ossola,  115. 

"Dorothy,  the  Hermitess,"  307. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.  (statesman),  229,  251. 

Douglass,  Frederick,  freedman  and  orator,  208. 

Drinking  wine  in  England,  80,  85 ;  in  Greece, 
127. 

Drunkenness,  reported  as  insanity,  175,  373. 

Dublin  visited,  81,  83. 

Duchess  of  Berri,  96;  of  Orleans,  106,  112. 

Duchy  of  Baden,  171,  184;  of  Nassau,  16S. 

Earle  ancestry,  1-4. 

Earle  artists,  319,  378-382. 

Earle,  Eliza  (sister  of  Dr.  Earle),  23,  26,  35,  39, 

50,  68,  iiS. 
Earle,  Frances,  6,  279,  393. 
Earle,  Joan,  i. 
Earle,  John  Milton  (brother  of  Dr.  Earle),  2,  25, 

59.  "o.  279,  387- 
Earle,    Jonah,     uncle    of    Dr.    E.,     12,     152; 

(brother),  152,  153,  293. 
Earle,  Lucy  (sister  of  Dr.  Earle),  21,  26,  34,  146, 

190,  236,  285,  293. 
Earle,  Mary  (cousin  of  Dr.  Earle),  313. 
Earle,  Patience  (mother  of  Dr.  Earle),   i,  6,  14, 

16,  28,  42,  59,  144,  152,  153,  187,  313,  385,  387- 
Earle,  Pliny,  Sr.,  i,  2,  4-6,  7-14,   16,  28,  59,  313, 

386. 
Earle,  Pliny,  M.D.  (b.  Dec.  31,  1809;  d.   May, 

17,  1892),  his  ancestry,  1-4;  childhood  and 
schooling,  6-10;  studies  and  teaches  at  Provi- 
dence, 17,  22,  23,  26,  36-39;  begins  travelling, 
29-34;  trip  to  White  Mountains,  42-48;  studies 
medicine,  50-58 ;  takes  degree  at  Philadelphia, 
March,  1S37,  591  sa'ls  for  England,  59-61; 
introduced  in  Quaker  society,  61-72;  explores 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  77-83 ;  describes 
York  Retreat,  303;  crosses  to  Paris,  83;  re- 
visits England  (1838),  84-89;  life  at  Paris,  95- 


40I 


lis;  visits  Belgium  and  Holland,  in;  ill  in 
Belgium  and  Paris,  111-113;  visits  Switzer- 
land, 113;  and  Italy,  116;  sails  from  Venice 
for  Greece,  iiS;  incident  at  Patras,  120;  ad- 
ventures in  Attica,  121-12S;  sails  for  Smyrna 
and  the  Bosphorus,  130;  incidents  in  Asia  and 
Constantinople,  133-137.  320;  voyage  in  the 
Archipelago,  131;  interview  with  a  Jewish 
astrologer,  132;  inspects  Malta,  13S;  quaran- 
tined there,  140;  visits  Naples,  Rome,  and 
Florence,  iiS;  sails  for  home,  119;  practises 
in  Philadelphia,  144;  appointed  physician  at 
the  Frankford  Retreat,  146;  and  superintend- 
ent at  Bloomingdale,  N.Y.,  151;  his  early 
methods  of  treatment,  155 ;  labors  at  Bloom- 
ingdale (1844-49),  i57-i62;  revisits  Europe, 
163;  inspects  the  European  asylums,  163-186; 
reports  on  those  of  Germany,  166-1S3  ;  returns 
to  New  York,  1S7 ;  but  soon  removes  to 
Leicester,  1S7 ;  practice  and  lectures  in  New 
York,  188,  189;  visits  South  Carolina  (1852), 
190-197;  travels  in  Cuba,  202-219;  meets  the 
reformers  at  Eagleswood,  N.J.,  19S-201 ;  in 
New  York  and  Washington  (1853-61),  220- 
238 ;  service  at  Washington  in  the  Civil  War, 
239-260;  superintendent  of  the  Northampton 
Hospital  for  Insane  (1864-85),  261-279 ; 
general  view  of  his  life  and  character,  280- 
315 ;  his  treatise  on  "  Curability  of  the  Insane," 
269-273,  311,  318;  his  writings,  early  and  late, 
317-376;  his  death,  315;  his  tribute  to  Miss 
Dix,  310. 

Earle,  Ralph  (first  American  Earle),  i,  2 ;  the 
second  Ralph,  2 ;  third,  2-4. 

Earle,  Ralph,  the  artist,  378. 

Earle,  Robert,  3,  4;  Robert,  Jr.,  4. 

Earle,  Sarah  (Mrs.  Hadwen),  26,  34,  35,  39-42  ; 
dies  (1834),  42 ;  mentioned,  77,  387. 

Earle,  Silas  (uncle  of  Dr.  E.),  12,  30. 

Earle,  Thomas  (brother  of  Dr.  E.),  12,  17-20, 
59.  144.  387. 

Earle,  William  Buff  urn  (brother  of  Dr.  E.),  17, 
21,  293,  385.  388. 

Earle  family,  color-blindness  in,  349,  354. 

Earlham  (home  of  the  Gumeys),  64,  74. 

Early  treatment  of  insane,  vii-ix,  66,  95,  137,  145, 
174,  182,  261,  271,  304,  307,  32I-33.'?.  362- 

Earnings  of  the  insane,  170,  177,  iSo,  263. 

Eastern  travels  of  Dr.  Earle,   120-143,  330-333. 

East  Room  of  the  White  House,  232,  250. 

Eberbach  in  Germany,  167,  168. 

Ecclesiastical  treatment  of  the   insane,  vii,  317. 

Economy  in  hospital  management,  160,  172,  263, 
269,  275,  29S,  311. 

Economy  of  life,  ii,  13,  99,  187. 

Edgeworth,  Maria,  mentioned,  13. 

Editors  of  medical  journals,  161,  165,  167,  iSo, 
1S2,  187,  255,  280,  293-297,  302,  319,  320,  342, 
346.  359-361.  372- 


Editors  of  newspapers,  21,  25,  59,  225,  238,  27S, 

310,  371,  386. 
Education  of  Dr.  Earle,  6-10,  22,  50,  56,  59,  95, 

382. 
Education,  medical,  in  America,  56,  94,  144,  184- 

i86,  253,  306;  in  Germany,  165,  1S4. 
Educative  statistics,  158,  161,   182,  190,  267,  302, 

312,  372-377- 
Election  of  Presidents,  59,    107,  216,   224,  230, 

236,  244,  251,  260,  383. 
Elevation  of  sentiment,  282,  286-288. 
Elias  Hicks  (Quaker  minister),   16-20,  76,  228. 
Elmore,  Andrew  E.  (of  Wisconsin),  276. 
Elys^es,  Champs  (Paris),  106. 
Emancipation  in  America,  25,  90,  108,  197,  202, 
219,  240,  252,  254,  258,  263 ;   in  Cuba,  202,  219; 
in  England,  78,  87,  90,  383,   109;    in  France, 
100,  106,  108. 
Emerson,     Edward,     mentioned,    77 ;     R.    W., 

quoted,  77,  137. 
Employment  of  the  insane,   143,  160,  166,   170, 

177,  179,  184,  263,  284,  2S8,  298. 
Encyclopedic  dinners,  102-104. 
England  and  America  compared,  68,  80,  85. 
England  and  France,  103,  105,  109,  112,  119,  164. 
England  in  1837,  61-71 ;   in  1838,  84-91,  in  1849, 

2S9;  in  1871,  274-276;  in  1873,  297. 
England,  revisited,  274,  289. 
English  customs,  70,  73,  78,  85,  99,  286,  381. 
English  life,  79-82,  85,  87,  91,  286. 
Englishmen,  38,   61,  66,  69,  75,  78,  86,  90,  103, 
109,  112,  115,  124,  133,  135,  140,  150,  157,  161, 
164,  174,  182,  225,  270,  272,  280,  289,  292. 
English  Quakers,  61-64,  80,  85,  87,  282,  2S6 ;  at 
school,  68,  71;   in  Paris,  83,  84,  104-106,  108- 
iio,  119,  282. 
Englishwomen,  47,  61-63,  65,  69-74,  79.  84,  86, 
87,  90,  91-100,  104-106,  109,  124,  282,  289,  322. 
Entertainments  at  asylums,  146,  155,    177,   246, 

254,  285,  294,  298,  314. 
Entertainments  in  England,  69,  70,  72,  80,  85-90 ; 
in  Paris,  100,  102-108,  no;   in  South  Carolina, 
192-195;    in  Washington,    223,   230,  231,    233, 
236-238,  248-251,  258. 
Epidaurus  in  Greece,  147. 
Epigrams  of  Charles  Lamb,  66;  of  Martial,  185  ; 

of  Samuel  Rogers,  290 ;  of  Wordsworth,  306. 
Epileptic  insanity,  221. 

Epitaph  of  Columbus,  204;  of  Ralph  Earle,  382. 
Esquirol  (French  alienist),  97,  327-329. 
Estimate  of  curability,  xi,  158,  161,  i65,  169,  172, 
175,  182,  187,  220,  262,  267,  270-273,  302,  311, 
372-377- 
Eubcea,  mentioned,  124,  126. 
European  tour  of  Dr.  Earle  in  1S37-39,  59,  61- 
143.  308,  321-333;  in  1849,  163-184,  2S5,  289; 
in  1 87 1,  274-276. 
Examples   of  good  asylums,   52,    154,   165,  170, 
172,  179,  275. 


402 


Expert  evidence,  171,  190,  221,  222,  314. 
Extravagance  in  hospital  building,  268,  269,  277, 

284,  309,  311. 
Eyes  and  color-blindness,  299,  319,  320,  342-361. 

F.,  Dr.  (German  alienist),  167. 

Family  care  for  the  insane,  275-278,  299,  317. 

Family  of  the  Earles,   1-16,  21,  26-30,  35,  39-42, 

110,  144,   152,  1S7,  220,  313,  346,  349-356,  361, 

378-386. 
Faro  of  Italy,  1 18. 
Feast  of  Bairam,  136,  330. 
Feasting  in  Charleston,  192,   194;  in  Cuba,  211- 

215;  in  Eagleswood,  200. 
Ferrier,  Miss  (homoeopathist),  100. 
Fetters  on  the  insane,  viii,  95,  137,  174,  331. 
Finlay,  George,  121. 
Fitzjames,  Lady,  100. 
Florence,  Italy,  gg,  iig. 
Forel,  Dr.  Auguste,  253,  275. 
Forster,  Anne  (English  Quaker),  91-93 ;  Josiah, 

76,  8g;  Robert,  76,  83,  90;    William  E.  (Eng- 
lish statesman),  87,  89,  gi,  g3. 
Fothergill,  Dr.,  ix,  66,  74,  75. 
Fox,  Anna  Maria,  84,  86,  90;  Caroline,  84,  86, 

90,  log;  George,  64,  77,  225,  288. 
France   visited,  83,  94-no,    112,   119,  275,   324- 

329- 
Frankford,  Pa.  (Friends'  Retreat),  146,  149,  151. 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  163,  168. 
Franklin,  Dr.,  mentioned,  viii,  58,  66,  75,  117. 
Fredericksburg,  Va.,  242. 
French   characters,  54,   92,  94,  96,  98,  102,   106, 

119,  208,  241,  324,327,  347. 
French,  D.  C.  (sculptor),  52. 
French  physicians,  94-98,  loi,  323,  328,  358-359, 

366. 
Friends  (Quakers),  24,  26,  30,  40,  49,  61-77,  80, 

84,  86>-go,  104-109,  146,  149,  199,  228,  281,  286, 

290,   299,  302-304,   313,  347,  353,  383,  387,  392. 
Friends'  Boarding-school,  10,  17,  22,  34,  42,  46- 

50,  71,  231,  255,  388. 
Fry,  Joseph  (husband  of  Mr3.  Fry),  64,  72,  76, 

83,  84. 

Fry,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  62,  63,  65,  70-74,  76,  78,  83, 

84,  86,  89,  100,  104-106,  loS-iii,  119. 

Gales,  Joseph,  225. 

Galignani  (newspaper),  113,  125,  127. 

Gall,  Dr.  (phrenologist),  59,  359. 

Gallaudet,  T.  H.,  52. 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  90,  108,  293. 

General  paralysis,  161,  168,  178,  181. 

Geneva  visited,  113,  114. 

"Genius    and     Degeneration"     (Dr.     Hirsch), 

quoted,  viii. 
George  I.,  King  of  Greece,  33. 
German  asylums,  xiii,  161-186,  318,  319,  334-341. 
Gheel  in  Belgium,  viii,  163,  275,  317,  319,  367. 


Girls  in  Greece,  128;  in  the  White  House,  233. 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  mentioned,  301. 

Godding,  Dr.  W.  W.,  254-256,  300. 

Godfrey,  Dr.,  109. 

Goodell,  Rev.  W.,  133,  134. 

Governors  of  Massachusetts,  16,  185,  379. 

Gozo,  the  island,  139. 

Grasmere,  N.H.,  insane  asylum,  137. 

Grecian  ruins,  122,  126. 

Greece  visited,  120-130,  147,  194. 

Greek  brigands,  124,  125. 

Greek  character,  123,  135. 

Greene,  Thomas  (New  Bedford),  no. 

Grimkd  sisters,  25,  26,  83,  199,  200. 

Griscom,  Dr.   John  (a  Quaker),  49,   53,   54,  58, 

107. 
Griswold,  Bishop,  38. 
Guines  in  Cuba,  207,  213. 
Gummere,  Samuel,  42,  48. 

Gumey,  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Fry),   (see  under  Fry). 
Gumey,  John,  64;  Joseph  John,  34,  5i,  62,  69, 

70,  74-76,  228. 
Gumey,  Louisa,  65. 
Gumey,  Samuel,  62,  64,  65,  67,  69,  70,  74-76,  83, 

86-87. 
Gumey,  the  family,  61-65,  68,  72-74,  78,  104,  228. 
Guraeyites,  228. 

Hacker,  Sarah  E.,  394;  William,  387. 
Hadwen,  Charles,  23,  39-41;    Sarah  Earle,  21, 

26,  34,  35.  39.  42.  153. 
Hale,  John  Parker  (statesman),  225,    226,  229, 

238. 
Hall  in  Austria,  176,  177. 
Halleck,  Fitz-Greene  (poet),  32. 
Ham  House,  England,  70-74,  86. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  380. 
Hanover,  N.H.,  48. 
Hare,  A.  J.  H.,  104. 
Hare,  Robert,  54. 
Hastings,  Seth,  M.C.,  22. 
Hayne,  R.  Y.,  17. 
Hays,  Catharine  (Irish  singer),  191. 
Hays,  Dr.  Isaac,  346,  360,  361. 
Heber,  Bishop,  63-66. 
Hebrew  charlatan,  132,  133. 
Hermitage  of  Gen.  Jackson,  382. 
Hicks,  Elias  (Quaker),  16-20,  75,  76. 
Hill,  Dr.,  at  Athens,  121,  128. 
Holland  visited,  in,  182,  183,  322. 
Holmes,  O.  W.,  10,  52,  94,  185. 
Homoeopathy,  100,  186. 
Hooker,   Gen.   Joseph,   240,   243,   244,  247,  248, 

259. 
Howe,   S.  G.  (philanthropist)  xiv,  xv,    33,    208, 

238.  305- 
Hospitals  at  Augusta,  Me.,  272:  at  Berlin,  169; 

at  Bloomingdale,  152,  155,  157-162;  at  Charen- 

ton,  97,  327;  at  Constantinople,  136,  308,330; 


403 


at  Danvers,  268,  276,  311;  at  Northampton, 
160,  253,  25s,  261-267,  273,  277,  279;  the  Penn- 
sylvania, ix;  at  Vienna,  173-175;  in  Washing- 
ton, 223,  236,  239,  241,  245,  246,  254-256,  258. 

Hudson,  149. 

Humor  of  Dr.  Earle,  31,  36,  45,  51,  56,  142,  212. 

Hutchinson,  Thomas,  Tory  governor,  379. 

Hydra  (Greek  island),  33. 

Hymettus,  122,  147. 

Ideal  and  Real,  289. 

Ideler,  Dr.,  of  Berlin,  169,  185. 

Idols,  156,  306. 

Ignorance  of  early  care-takers  of  insane,  vii,  ix, 

164,  306,  374. 
Illenau,  asylum  at,  165,  171. 
Imagination,  function  of,  289. 
Inner  Light,  281,  287,  315. 
Insane,   care  of,  vii-xiii,   143,  146,  154-162,  164- 

190,  246,  254,  262-266,  275-279,  281,  2S2,  298, 

304,  309,  363-370- 
Insanity,  curability  of,  xi,  158,  161,  166,  182,  186, 

262,  267,  270-273,  302,  311,  312,  318,  372-379- 
Insanity  increasing,  xi,  297,  361. 
Insanity  little  understood,  viii-xi,  362,  364,  367. 
Insanity,  mistakes  about,  xiv,  363,  366,  368,  370, 

372,  376- 
Instruction  to  medical  students,  171,  184-186. 
Ireland  visited,  81,  S2. 
Italian  language,  116-118,  329. 
Italy  visited,  113,  115,  117,  119,  197,  383- 

Jackson,  General  Andrew,  107,  235,  383. 
Jacobi  (German  alienist),  164,  166,  170,  297,  334. 
Jamaica,  61,  384. 
James  I.  of  England,  24. 
Jar\'is,  Edward,  M.D.,  ix,  166. 
Jesus  Christ  mentioned,  92,  129,  227,  282,  287. 
Jewish  rabbi,  132. 

Johnson,  Andrew  (American  President),  236,  252. 
Journal  of  Insanity,  xii,   186,  255,  280,  294-296, 

318. 
Journal  0/ Mental  Sciences,   154,   161,    187,  317, 

346,  375.  376. 
Journal  0/ Psychiatry  (German),  165. 
Jourtial  0/  Social  Science,  320. 
Jullien  de  Paris,  102-104. 

Kalamata,  135. 

Kalymnos,  sponge-fishery  at,  141. 

Kanaris  (Greek  admiral),  33. 

Kansas,  State  of,  225,  226,  229,  233,  245. 

Kapheneion  (Greek  caf^),  127. 

Keith,  George,  early  Quaker,  17. 

Kendal,  England,  86. 

Kentucky,  128,  156. 

Kephissia  (Greek  village),  124,  125,  127,  134. 

Keswick,  England,  64. 

Kirkbride,  Eliza  63 ;  Kirkbride,  Dr.,  x. 


Knickerbocker  Magazine,  147,  149. 

Knight,  Anne  (English  Quakeress),  100,  loi,  108, 

no,  282. 
Knights  of  Malta,  141. 
Know-nothing  party,  224,  231. 
Koraki,  Kotroni,  etc.  (Greek  mountains),  126. 

Labor  in  asylums,  159,  160,  166,  168,  170,  172, 
177;  179,  184,  263,  265,  329,  365. 

Laehr,  Dr.  Heinrich  (German  alienist),  164,  180, 
294.  295i  318,  340- 

Lady  Bethune,  100;  Lady  Byron,  71,  124;  Lady 
Fitzjames,  100 ;  Lady  Spencer,  139. 

Lafayette,  Gen.,  15,  16. 

Lakes  of  England  and  Scotland,  82,  122. 

Lamartine  (French  statesman),  106. 

Landor,  W.  S.,  quoted,  293. 

Landseer,  Sir  Edwin,  379,  381. 

Lane,  Miss  Harriet,  235,  238. 

Latin  fable,  vii ;  verse  of  Avienus,  287. 

Lausanne,  144. 

"Lavengro"  of  Borrow,  cited,  74. 

Leicester,  Mass.,  1-5,  9,  13,  20,  23,  26-28,  29,  33, 
39>  48.  50)  55.  59.  125,  144,  152,  187,  190,  220, 
253.  293,  315.  346,  381-390,  39»- 

Leipzig,  mentioned,  165. 

Leman,  Lake,  113. 

Leslie,  C.  R.,  quoted,  379,  381. 

Letters:  of  Dr.  E.  Bartlett,  94;  of  Dr.  A.  Brig- 
ham,  294,  295;  of  Arnold  Buffum,  21 ;  of  Re- 
becca Buffum  (Spring),  313;  of  Miss  D.  L. 
Dix,  261,  309;  of  J.  Milton  Earle,  25;  of  Mrs. 
Patience  Earle,  152;  of  Dr.  Pliny  Earle,  27, 
48,  50,  54,  58,  81-83,  118,  146,  190,  136,  238, 
285,  303 ;  of  Sarah  Earle  (Hadwen),  34,  35, 
39-42;  of  Thomas  Earle,  17,  19;  of  W.  B. 
Earle,  354;  of  Anne  Forster,  91-93  ;  of  Dr.  E. 
Jarvis,  156;  of  Mrs.  Fanny  Kemble,  57;  of 
Anne  Knight,  282 ;  of  Dr.  H.  Laehr,  295 ;  of 
Dr.  M,  Martini,  172 ;  of  Miss  Fanny  Martini, 
290,  292;  of  Prof.  S.  F.  B.  Morse,  380;  of 
Mrs.  Amelia  Opie,  72-74 ;  of  E.  A.  Poe,  147 ; 
of  Admiral  Smyth,  380 ;  of  Henry  Thoreau, 
198;  of  Dr.  J.  Thumam,  302;  of  Mrs.  Dr. 
Thurnam,  304;  of  Dr.  D.  H.  Tuke,  297,  300; 
of  Samuel  Tuke,  296;  of  Miss  X.,  286,  288. 

Leubus,  in  Silesia,  172,  290,  335. 

Leuret  (French  alienist),  95,  96,  319. 

Levant,  tour  in  the,  33,  118,  143. 

Lexington,  battle  of,  319,  379. 

Leyden,  mentioned,  99. 

"Life  Harrud,"  142. 

Lincoln,    Abraham  (American    President),   219, 

240,  244,  248-250,  251,  252,  254,  257-260. 
Lincoln,  Levi  (Governor  of  Massachusetts),  16. 
Lincoln,  Mrs.  Mary  Anne,  248,  249. 
Lincoln,  Waldo,  of  Worcester,  386. 
Lindpaintner,  Kerr  (founder  of  After  Care),  168. 
Lister,  J.  J.  (English  scientist),  69,  72,  76,  87. 


404 


Lister  (English  surgeon),  91. 

Lloyd,  quoted,  xiii. 

Lobetinz,  in  Germany,  173. 

Localities  in   Greece,    121,    122,    124,    125,   127, 

214;  in   Leicester,  3,  4,  24,  50,  125,   153,  187, 

315,  350.  351.  386-388. 
Lombard  Street,  London,  65,  72. 
London  in  1837,   1S38,  62,  67,  70,  72-74,  76,  77, 

79,  81,  85,  88,  91 ;  in  1849,  289,  290. 
London  Quakers,  63-66,  76,  77,  79,  83,  85,  88,  90, 

104-106. 
London  University,  85,  91. 
Louis  (French  physician),  94,  95,  loi,  119. 
Louis  Albert  (Count  of  Paris),  112. 
Louis  Philippe,  King  of  France,  106. 
Love  among  Quakers,  41,  69,  90,  231,  286,  290, 

291,  293. 
Lowell,  Mass.,  visited,  39. 
Lyman,  B.  S.,  quoted,  58. 
Lynn,  Mass.,  visited,  41 ;  mentioned,  43. 
Lyric  verse  of  Dr.  Earle,  126,  147,  149. 

Machine-cards,  how  made,  5,  9,  11. 

Macintire,  Mrs.,  379. 

Maelzel,  chess-player,  365. 

Magendie  (French  vivisector),  92,  94,  119. 

Mahdi  of  Africa,  33. 

Mahmoud  (Turkish  Sultan),  133,  136,  332. 

Mahomet,  131,  330,  332. 

Mahometans,  130,  136,  333. 

Malta  visited  by  Dr.  Earle,  118,    120,    138-143; 

by  G.  Sandys,  140. 
Maltese  insane,  143  ;  language,  140. 
Management  of  the  insane  by  Dr.  Earle,  276,  298. 
Manchester,  Eng.,  82;  Manchester,  N.H.,  137. 
Mania,  how  treated,  ix,  145. 
Mann,  Horace,  American  reformer,  x. 
"IMarathon,  and  Other  Poems,"  126,  147,  317. 
Marathon  visited,  124,  125-127,  134,  214. 
Mario,  Signor,  and  Jessie  White,  201. 
Marseilles  visited,  119. 
Martial's  epigram  on  physicians,  185. 
Massachusetts   Boards  of  Charity  and   Lunacy, 

xii,  260,  262,  278,  312,  375. 
Massachusetts  hospitals,   x,   iii,    154,    160,    166, 

•85,  253.  255,  260,  261,  262-279,  3">  362,  372- 

376. 
Massachusetts  newspapers,  278,  310,  370,  371. 
Maury  family  of  Washington,  224,  231,  236,  237. 
Mavrocordato,     Alexander    (Greek    statesman), 

'35- 
Maxwell  (Mrs.,  widow  of  James  Earle),  379. 
May,  Rev.  S.  J.,  25;  Rev.  Samuel,  of  Leicester, 

XV,  24,  293,  384,  390. 
Mazzini,  Giuseppe  (Italian  revolutionist),  201. 
McClelland,    Governor  (cabinet  minister),  226, 

230. 
McLean  Asylum,  ix,  261,  271,  303,  372-375. 


McLean,  Judge  229,  230. 

Medical  societies,  141,  159,  259,  269,301,  384. 

Medical  trade-union,  xii. 

Medicine-giving  in  America  and   Europe,    100, 

loi,  145,  160. 
Melancholy  in  the  Earle  family,  187,   220,  314, 

3Ss. 
Metaphysical  studies,  281,  286-2S9. 
Miaulis  fGreek  admiral),  33. 
Milan  asylum,  ra,  329. 
Milan  visited,  116. 
Millingen,  Dr.  Julius,  133-136,  333. 
Mind  incapable  of  disease,  151,  281,  362. 
Missionary  work  of  JNIiss  Dix,  307 ;   of  Pinel  in 

1793,  324. 
Missolonghi  mentioned,  32,  135. 
Mitchell,  Sir  Arthur  (Scotch  alienist),  275,  375. 
Morse,  Prof.  S.  F.  B.,  379,  381. 
Mott,  Dr.,  119. 
Mountains  in  England,   83 ;  in  Greece,  122,  125, 

127,  131;  in  New  Hampshire,  44-48. 
Mount  Hope  (King  Philip's  seat),  30,  31. 
Mount  Pentelicus  in  Greece,  126,  134,  147,  148. 
Mount  Pleasant  in  Leicester,  50,  51. 
Mount  Vesuvius  ascended,  118. 
Mount    Washington    climbed,    44-46;     scenery 

around,  47. 
Movement  for  family  care  of    the  insane,  xiv, 

27s,  277- 
Mulberry  Grove  (the  Earle  place  in  Leicester), 

4,  26,  39,  125,  152,  387-390- 
Muleteers  in  Cuba,  207. 

Mummeries  at  Cardenas  and  Matanzas,  213,  214. 
Munich  visited  by  Dr.  Earle,  177 ;  by  ISIr.  San- 
bom,  178. 
Murray,  John  (publisher),  letter  to,  57. 
Museum,  British,  mentioned,  85 ;  at  Charleston, 

193- 
Music  of  the  Cuban  slaves,  205 ;  of  Quakers,  32. 
Musical   ear  defective    in   the  color-blind,   352, 

353- 
Musical  soiree  at  Charleston,  194. 
Mutes  at  school,  29,  51. 
Myopia  and  color-blindness,  361. 
Mysteries  of  mesmerism,  58,  59,  289. 
Mystical  Quakerism,  90,  286-2S8. 

Nantucket  visited,  32-34. 

Napoleon  mentioned,  98,  208,  329. 

Narrenthurm  of  Vienna,  173-175. 

Nassau,  duchy  of,  xv,  167,  168,  338. 

National  characteristics,  55,  78,  80,  99,  127,  132, 

140,  184,  206,  217. 
National  Conference  of  Charities,  276,  278,  309, 

3.8. 
Navarino,  in  Greece,  135. 
Navy  of  England,  378,  381 ;  of  the  United  States, 

383. 


405 


Nestor  of  alienists,  278. 

Netherlands  visited  by  Dr.  Earle,  no,  in,  182, 
322,  323  ;  by  Dr.  Tuke,  183. 

New  Bedford  mentioned,  2,  31,  8g,  no. 

Newbury  in  Whittier's  verse,  25. 

New  England  mentioned,  viii,  7,  10,  11,  27,  29, 
37.  49,  S3.  54.  59,  76.  i57,   198,  202,  283,  307, 

■  310,  319. 

Newenhara,  Dr.,  112. 

Newgate  prison,  62,  65,  71,  104. 

New  Hampshire  visited  by  Dr.  Earle,  42-48 ; 
mentioned,  vii,  x,  24,  37,  107,  176,  195,  223,  225. 

New  Haven  visited,  52,  53 ;  mentioned,  378,  380. 

New  Jersey  mentioned,  198,  221,  378. 

New  Orleans,  380,  3S2. 

Newport,  R.I.,  60. 

New  York  (the  State),  121,  133,  163,  1S8,  221; 
the  city,  6,  38,  49,  53,  59,  160,  161,  162,  187, 
188-190,  200,  220,  314,  373,  380. 

Niagara  mentioned,  380. 

Nichols,  Dr.  Charles  H.,  223,  225,  226,  231,  232, 
236,  239,  241,  248,  250,  253,  255. 

Niedermann,  Dr.  (Hungarian  alienist),  181. 

Nietleben,  Saxon  asylum,  165,  334. 

"  Night  Thoughts"  of  Young,  14. 

Nims,  Dr.  Edward  B.  (successor  of  Dr.  Earle), 
266,  279. 

Noel,  Edward,  English  resident  in  Greece,  124; 
Francis,  124 ;  Roden,  292. 

Nordau,  Max,  viii. 

Northampton  (the  town),  260,  279,  390,  391-393  ; 
(the  hospital),  8,  160,  253,  255,  260-279,  298, 
299,  3°i,  305,  309,  363,  365,  370,  388. 

North  Carolina  mentioned,  17,  224. 

Northern  armies  in  the  Civil  War,  239,  241,  242- 
248,  253,  254,  257,  259. 

Notes  of  travel  in  New  England,  29-53 ;  in  Eng- 
land, 70,  72,  76-91;  in  France,  95-113;  in 
Central  Europe,  113-116,  166-180;  in  Greece, 
120-130;  in  Turkey,  130-137;  in  Malta,  138- 
143;  in  Italy,  116-119;  in  Carolina,  190-198; 
in  Cuba,  202-218. 

Nugent,  Dr.  (Irish  alienist),  301. 

Nimiber  of  recoveries  of  the  insane,  158,  166, 
182,  220,  271,  312,  372-377. 

O'Beme,  Dr.,  quoted,  92. 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  86,  112. 

"Octogenarian's  Soliloquy,"  147. 

Oddities  among  Quakers,  18,  71,  74,  79,  149,  378. 

Odeon,  Place  de  la  (Paris),  99,  loi,  112,  119. 

Olmsted,  Prof.,  52,  53. 

Olympus,  Jupiter  of,  121. 

Odysseus  (Greek  chieftain),  197. 

Opie,  Mrs.,  61,  63,  69,  72-74. 

Orford,  N.H.,48. 

Orthodox  Quakers,  16,  19,  20,  75,  228,  2S7. 

Ossian,  quoted,  131. 


Otho  (King  of  Greece),  122,  141. 
Ottoman  customs,  136,  137,  333. 
Overend  &  Gumey,  65,  72,  74. 

Pacific  Ocean,  33,  381. 

Paetz,  Dr.,  164,  165,  179,  301. 

Paradise,  Mahometan,  136,  352. 

Paralysis,  general,  161,  188. 

Paresis,  161,  168,  178,  181,  188. 

Paris  visited  by  Dr.  Earle,  20,  76,  94-99,  1 18. 

Parkers  of  Washington,  236,  237. 

Parker,  Theodore,  225. 

Parliament,  i,  82,  87,  109. 

Parsons  and  insanity,  viii. 

Parsons,  Dr.  Usher,  10,  50. 

Patients  in  asylums,  ix,  xi,  xiv;  Chaps.  IV.,  etc., 

passhn. 
Patients  classified  in  Massachusetts,  264. 
Patras,  120,  125,  129. 

Pauper  laws,  265 ;  pauper  palaces,  268,  277,  311. 
Paxton,  Mass.,  2,  125,  37S,  380. 
Peale,  Rembrandt,  42. 
Pear-trees  at  Leicester,  8. 
Pease  family  of  England,  68,  83,  86,  90. 
Penn  Magaziiie,  148. 
Penn,  William,  3,  14,  17,  54.  71,  ^46- 
Pentelicus,  Mount,  125,  126,  134,  147,  148. 
Philadelphia,  3,   12,  13,  36,  54,  57,  59,   97,  144, 

146-151,  199,  228,  254,  317,  383. 
Philanthropists,  xv,  58,  63,  74,  198,  308,  315. 
Philip,  King,  30. 
Phillips  Academy,  vii,  37. 
Philosophical  Society,  58. 
Phrenology,  xi,  59,  149-151,  164,  359. 
Physiologists,  xiv,  193,  281,  297,  342. 
Pickpocket  in  Washington,  235. 
Pienitz,  Dr.,  171,  172. 
Pierce,   Franklin  (President,   1853-57),  216,  223, 

232,  234-236,  251. 
Pikermi  (in  Greece),  124. 

Pinel,  Philippe,  ix,  95,  97,  137,  164,  171,  323-327- 
Pinel  the  younger,  95,  323,  324. 
Pine  Street  Quaker  meeting,  18,  199. 
Pinkham,  Lieutenant,  33. 
Pittsfield,  Mass.,  160,  253,  257. 
Plaistow  (Eng.),  70,  72,  76. 
Plymouth  Colony,  i,  2,  37. 
Pnyx  of  Athens,  122. 
Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  147,  148. 
Poems  of  Patience  Earle,  14,  15 ;  of  Pliny  Earle, 

23,  126,  147,  149,  317,  390. 
Polycarp,  the  martyr,  130. 
Pope,  Alexander,  14,  287,  357. 
Population  of  towns,  32,  33. 
Portland  visited  by  Dr.  Earle,  43,  44,  74. 
Portrait-painters  named  Earle,  378-382. 
Potomac,  the  river,  223,  227,  239,  241. 
Practice  of  blood-letting,  144,  145,  15s,  189,  318. 


4o6 


Preachers,  mentioned,  15-ig,  25. 

Prince,  Dr.,  of  Northampton,  261. 

Professors  in  colleges,  36,  52. 

Providence,  R.I.,  g,  10,  22,  30,  36,  37,  42,  49,  55, 

58,  III,  300. 
Prussian  blue,  344. 
Prussian  asylums,  166,  172,  334,  335. 
Psychiatry,  viii,  165,^167,  180,  184. 
Psychologic  associations,  301,  313,  373. 
Psychologic  medicine,  160;   Dictionary  of,  300, 

320,  372. 
Psychology  of  Feuchtersleben,  288. 
Publications  of  Dr.  Earle,  317-320. 
Public  care  of  the  insane,  ix-xi,  95-97,  in,  137, 

143,   14s,  15s,   157,  159-162,  165-186,  223,  241, 

254-256,  261-266,   268-272,   275,   276-278,  298, 

299,  304,  306-309,  312,  368,  375. 
Public  libraries,  314,  389,  390,  391,  393. 
Public  spirit  of  the  Earle  family,  1-3,  21,  157, 387. 
Publishing  essays  on  Insanity,  154,  165,  180,  187, 

267,  270,  276,  293-296. 
Pumphrey,  Thomas,  68. 

"  Punishing"  the  insane,  ix,  96,  155,  326,  327. 
Puritans  mentioned,  viii,  2,  24,  54. 
Puzzling  result  of  statistics,  373,  376. 

Quaker  asylums  at  Frankford  and  York,  146-15 1, 
270,  296,  303,  324,  388. 

Quaker  coats,  16,  81,  286,  353. 

Quakeresses,  34,  62,  66,  6g,  86,  89,  100,  no,  282, 
286-289,  291. 

Quaker  feuds,  16-20,  24,  76,  88,  228,  286. 

Quaker  ministers,  15,  347,  353. 

Quaker  spirituality,  286,  288. 

Quaker  tourist,  29,  143,  285. 

Quakers  in  England,  13,  17,  61-77,  80,  85-93, 
303,  304,  383- 

Quakers  in  France,  84,  90,  100,  104-106,  108-110, 
282. 

Quakers  in  Leicester,  Philadelphia,  etc.,  2-16, 
17,  21,  24-27,  34-41,  44,  49,  149,  199.  228.  255. 
313,  387. 

"  Quality"  (a  sort  of  binding),  353. 

Quarantine  at  Malta,  121,  140,  141. 

"Queen  Esther"  Maud,  66. 

Queen  of  France,  106;  of  Spain,  210. 

Queen  of  William  IV.,  gi. 

Queen  Victoria,  82,  gi,  321,  384. 

Questionable  recoveries,  158,  166,  175,  182,  220, 
267,  270-273,  373-376. 

Questions  of  color-blindness,  343,  351. 

Quinnihtiquot  (Connecticut),  51. 

Quotations  (poetic)  from  Avienus,  287 ;  Byron, 
113,  117,  129,  139,  150;  Canning,  36,  115; 
Cowper,  45,  79;  Emerson,  77,  137;  Milton, 
55>  233,  310,  353;  John  Neal,  44;  Martial, 
185;  Pope,  357;  Scott,  83;  Shakespeare,  31; 
Tennyson,  306;  Whittier,  25,  31,  208;  Words- 
worth, 306. 


Rabbi,  Jewish  (an  alchemist),  132. 

Rainbow,  how  viewed  by  Whittier,  352. 

Ralph  Earle,  portrait-painter,  319,  378,379;  his 

son  Ralph,  380,  382. 
Ramla  in  Malta,  139. 
Ramon  de  la  Sagra,  in. 
Ranney,  Dr.  Moses,  220. 
Rappahannock  River,  242. 
Raritan  Bay  Phalanstery,  199. 
Rates  of  death  and  cure,  175,  220,  265,  266,  375, 

377- 
Ray,  Dr.  Isaac  (American  alienist),  x,  xi,   271, 

273.  294,  303. 
Rays  of  light  in  color-blindness,  357-359. 
Reading  at  Eagleswood,  201. 
Real  fact  of  curability,  269,  273. 
Rebecca,  Cousin  (Mrs.  Spring),  30,  41,  81,  191, 

199,  212,  313- 
Recent  cases  of  insanity,  271,  274,  374,  377. 
Recoveries  from  insanity  dubious,  273,  313,  376. 
Reil  (German  alienist),  184. 
Religion  of  Dr.  Earle,  21,  227,  281,  287,  302,  315. 
Reminiscences  of  Dr.   Earle,  7-13,383,384;  of 
M.  Callaghan,  385 ;  of  Rev.  Samuel  May,  24, 
386-390. 
Resolutions  of  the  Northampton  Trustees,  1885, 

279. 
Retirement  in  Leicester,  187,  220,  388;  at  North- 
ampton, 279. 
"  Retreats"  for  the  insane;  at  Hartford,  ix,  270; 
at  Frankford,  Pa.,  146,  388;  at  York,  Eng.,  80, 
303,  297,  375- 
Rhamnus  in  Greece,  126. 
Rhetorical  Briton,  150;  defects,  283. 
Rhode  Island,  i,  2,  22,  34,  41,  49,  58,  387. 
Rhythm  of  Dr.  Earle,  126,  147;  of  Pope,  14,  2S7; 

of  Whittier,  300,  352. 
Richardson,  John,  10 ;  Thomas,  74. 
Richenda  (Gumey),  Cunningham,  73. 
Richmond,  Va.,  218,  242,  246-248,  258,  259. 
Riding  up  Mount  Washington,  45 ;   under  Pen- 

telicus,  125,  134. 
Riedel,  Dr.  (German  alienist),  170,  176. 
Rockwell,  Dr.  (American  alienist),  x,  176. 
Rocky  Mountain  Indians,  253. 
Roeser,  Dr.  (physician  in  Athens),  121,  123,  141. 
Rogers,  Samuel,  the  banker-poet,  289,  290. 
Roller,  Dr.  (German  alienist),  164,  171,  337. 
Rush,  Dr.  (American  alienist),  viii,  ix,  144,  189. 
Rutland,  Mass.,  12. 
Rutledge  family  of  Carolina,  196. 

Sabbath  ("First  Day ")  among  Quakers,  24,  40, 

72,  86  ;   among  Shakers,  48. 
"  Sacred  bitters  "  of  Miss  Dix,  262. 
Sadness  not  common  among  the  insane,  363,  365. 
Sailing  for  Europe  (April  25,  1837),  xvi,  59,  61. 
Salamis,  122. 
.Salzberg  Alps,  176. 


407 


Sanbom,  F.  B.,  in  Austria,  175;  in  Bavaria,  177; 
in  Greece,  124 ;   in  Holland,  183 ;  in  London, 

301 ;  in  Northampton,  260,  305 ;  investigates 
the  Danvers  Hospital-building  (1877),  311; 
investigates  the  Tewksbury  Almshouse  (1876), 
220;  named  as  Dr.  Earle's  biographer,  390; 
reviews  the  care  of  the  insane,  historically, 
vii-xv;  serves  as  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
State  Charities  (1874-76)  and  Inspector  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Charities  (1S79-88),  260,  267;  tes- 
tifies to  Dr.  Earle's  success,  299;  translates 
Avienus  and  Martial's  epigram,  185,  287. 

Sandys,  George  (brother  of  Sir  Edwin  Sandys), 
his  account  of  Malta,  140. 

Santo  Domingo  mentioned,  204,  208. 

Saxon  alienists,  165,  170,  171,  179,  301. 

Saxon  asylums,  164,  165,  170,  178,  334. 

Saxony  mentioned,  165 ;  Dr.  Martini  in,  172 ; 
Fanny  Martini  writes  from,  292 ;  Thackeray  in 
(Dresden),  292. 

Scenery  of  Carolina,  191 ;  of  Cuba,  207,  209,  213, 
214;  of  Greece,  122,  125-127;  of  Scio,  131;  of 
Scutari,  137;  of  Switzerland,  114;  of  the  White 
Mountains,  46. 

Schools,  Medical,  56,  160,  184,  253,  257,  383. 

Schools  of  Leicester,  7,  9,  26,  387 ;  for  patients 
in  asylums,  155  ;  for  Quaker  children,  68,  71. 

Scotch  system  for  the  insane,  275,  277,  375. 

Scotland  visited,  82,  163,  275  ;  Miss  DLx  in,  308. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  23,  83,  126 ;  Scott,  a  color- 
blind, 344. 

Seat  of  King  Philip,  31;  of  the  Gumeys  at 
Upton,  70-74. 

Secretary  Chase,  252;  Dobbin,  224;  Guthrie, 
232 ;  McClelland,  226 ;  Thompson,  237 ;  Toucey, 
237 ;  Usher,  252. 

Semelaigne  (kinsman  of  Pinel),  324. 

Senator  Calhoun,  195 ;  Clay,  195 ;  Douglas,  228, 
230;  Hale,  225,  226,  229,  230;  Houston,  225, 
234;  Jones,  223;  Seward,  225;  Sumner,  225, 
229,  230,  289 ;  Toombs,  226 ;  Trumbull,  229 ; 
Webster,  37,  107,  195,  216;  Wilson  (Henry), 
225,  238. 

Senators  at  Washington,  195,  230,  234,  258. 

Separation  of  the  curable  and  incurable  insane 
in  Germany,  169,  183;  in  United  States,  277; 
at  Westborough,  276. 

Seri'ices  for  the  insane,  of  Miss  Dix,  xv,  275, 
306-310;  of  Dr.  Earle,  xv,  154,  157,  i6i,  166, 
184,  187,  263,  264,  267,  269,  273,  278,  279,  284, 
302  ;   of  Dr.  S.  G.  Hows,  xiv,  xv. 

Settlement  laws  of  Massachusetts,  264,  265. 

Seward,  W.  H.,  defends  an  insane  homicide, 
221 ;  in  Washington,  225,  252. 

Shakers,  48;   Gen.  Bumside  a  great  Shaker,  244. 

Siegburg,  in  Germany,  164,  166,  182,  183,  334. 

Siege  of  Navarino,  133,  135. 

Significance  of  relapsed  recoveries,  373,  376. 

Sigoumey,  Mrs.  L.  H.,  52,  128. 


Silesia,  172,  173,  290. 

Silliman,  Prof.,  52,  53. 

Slater,  Samuel,  5. 

Slaveholders,  195,  251. 

Slavery  in  Carolina,  191,  198;   in  Cuba,  205,  208, 

218;  in  Leicester,  14;  in  the  United  States,  57, 

108,  240. 
Slave-trade,  87,  202,  218. 
Slow  progress  of  the  Civil  War,  244,  247. 
Smith,  Sydney  (the  wit),  quoted,  vii ;  Sir  Sydney, 

105. 
Smyrna  visited,  130,  131,  136,  194. 
Smyth,  Admiral  W.  H.,  319,  378,  381. 
Smyth,  Miss,  sister  of  the  Admiral,  379. 
Snell,  Dr.  (German  alienist),  167,  168,  301,  338. 
"Sociable"  explained,  36. 
Societies,  Dr.  Earle's  membership  in,  269,  301, 

384. 
Socrates,  prison  of,  122. 
Soldier,  French,  unchained  by  Pinel,  325. 
Soldiers  in  hospital,  238,  241,  245,  246,  247,  254, 

259. 
Somebody,  Rev.  Mr.,  ig. 
Somerset,  Eng.,  i. 
Sonnenstein,  Germany,  170,  171,  337. 
South  America,  381. 

South  Carolina,  190-192,  195-197,  378,  381. 
Southern  Europe,  1 17-143. 
Southwick  family,  4,  385,  394. 
Spaulding,  T.  G.,  394. 
Spurzheim,  Dr.  (alienist),   164,  336. 
Spurzheira,  Dr.  (phrenologist),  59,  164,  359. 
State  Boards,  xiv,  260,  262,  267,  278,  375,  393. 
State  Hospitals  (see  Hospitals). 
Statistics  (American),  190,  220,  265,  266,  312,  372- 

377  i  (French)  303;  (German)  334-341. 
Stedman,  Dr.  H.  R.  (American  alienist),  278. 
Stewart,  Dugald,  344,  359. 
Strong,  Gov.  Caleb,  380. 
Sturge,  Joseph,  61,  82,  383,  384. 
Sugar-making  in  Cuba,  209. 
Suicides,  177. 

Sullivan's  Island,  S.C.,  194,  ig6. 
Sully,  T.  (artist),  380. 
Sumner,  Charles  (statesman),  119,  225,  229,  230, 

250,  289;  George,  289;  Gen.  E.  V.,  250. 
Superintendent  and  patient  (anecdotes),  150,  314, 

368. 
Syramachus  (Roman  physician),  185. 
Synesius,  Greek  author,  381. 
Syphilis,  mentioned,  181. 

Table  for  "  encyclopedic  dinner,"  103  ;  for  Wash- 
ington dinner,  237;  in  Cuba,  203. 
Tables  of  statistics,  220,  334,  377. 
Tachygraphy,  39. 

Tacitus,  quoted,  281 ;  Terence,  quoted,  285. 
Tacon  Theatre  in  Havana,  206. 
Tact  of  Miss  Dix,  305 ;  of  Mrs.  Fry,  105. 


4o8 


Taft  family  of  Charleston,  190-194. 

Taft,  H.  W.,  279. 

Tailor,  anecdote  of,  346,  347. 

Tewksbury  State  Almshouse,  137,  220,  265. 

Thackeray,  W.  M.,  292. 

Thanksgi\'ing  Day,  54. 

Thayer,  Rev.  Dr.,  40 ;  Rev.  C.  T.,  40. 

Thompson,  Miss  (artist),  32. 

Thoreau,  Henry,  quoted,  198,  199. 

Thumam,  Dr.   John,  mentioned,  270,  302,  304 ; 

quoted,  303,  375. 
Thumam,  Mrs.  Dr.,  304. 

Timar-hane  (asylum),  137,  178,  220,  308,  332,  333. 
Times   of  negro  slavery,  57,   195,   200,  218,  229, 

240. 
Tobacco  used  by  the  Earles,  24,  256 ;  by  Cubans, 

202. 
Todd,  Dr.  (of  Hartford),  ix,  x,  271,  374. 
Tombazis  (Greek  admiral),  33. 
Tories  in  England,  79,  86;   in  America,  197,  319, 

378. 
Tottenham,  Eng.,  77,  84,  90. 
Trade  in  slaves,  87,  193,  218. 
Tranquillizing  chair,  ix,  178. 
Trelawny,  E.  J.  (friend  of  Shelley),  134,  197. 
Trist,  N.  P.,  quoted,  372. 
Trumbull,  J.  (artist),  53,  378,  380. 
Tschallener,  Dr.,  of  the  Tyrol,  176. 
Tuke,  Dr.  D.  H.,  ix,  182,  295,  296-302,  323,  372. 
Tuke,  James  (brother  of  Dr.  T.),  88,  303. 
Tuke,  Samuel,  88,  303;    William,  66,  164,  302, 

323- 
Turks  in  Greece,  122,  124,  132,  134;  in  Turkey, 

133,  136.  137.  17S. 
Tyler,  John  (President),  mentioned,  236. 
Tyrol,  the,  visited,  176,  177. 

Unitarians,  20,  227. 

United  States,  insanity  in,  viii-xv,  271-273,  361, 

374- 
Universities:   Athens,    128;    Brown,  34,  35,  36; 

Pennsylvania,  11,  56,  383;  Michigan,  257. 
Ursa  Major,  198. 
Ute  Indians,  253. 
Utica,  N.Y.,  186,  221,  293,  318. 
Utrecht  Asylum,  322. 
Uxbridge  mentioned,  392. 

Vale  of  Yumuri,  Cuba,  214. 
Valetta,  in  Malta,  138,  143. 
Van  Buren,  John,  221,  222;  President,  54,  59,  77, 

235.  25'.  383- 
Van  Deventer  (Dutch  alienist),  183. 
Velpeau,  French  surgeon,  45,  94,  97,  1 19. 
Venice  visited,  117,  120. 
Vesuvius,  118. 

Victoria,  Queen  of  England,  82,  91,  321,  384. 
Vienna  visited,  173,  176. 


Villa  of  Luke  Howard,  67;  of  Voltaire,  iij. 

Villeneuve,  Switzerland,  114. 

Vipers  in  Malta,  138. 

Virginia  mentioned,   34,   76,  200,  230,  240,  271, 

374.  381. 
"Virginian"  (the  packet),  59.    (Sailed  April  25, 

1837.) 
Virginians  (M.    D.    Conway),  225,  227;   (N.    P. 

Trist),  3S1. 
Visits  to  Europe,  61,  166,  274,  289,  383. 
Vizsanik,  Dr.,  173,  175. 
Von  Bodelschwingh,  viii. 
Voyage  in  the  Archipelago,  13  r,  138. 

Waldron,  Major  Richard,  25. 

Washburn,  Judge  Emory,  5,  156. 

Washington  visited,  59,    223 ;   residence   of  Dr. 

Earle  in,  225-238,  241-260. 
Wayland,  Dr.  Francis,  34,  36,  307. 
Weare,  N.H.,  48. 
Webb,  J.  W.,  225,  231- 

Webster,  Daniel  (statesman),  37,  195,  216,  227. 
Weld,  Theodore,  198,  201. 
West,  Benjamin  (artist),  378,  380. 
Westmoreland,  Eng.,  66,  79. 
White,  Andrew  D.,  208;  J.  M.  (a  Congressman), 

103,  104;  Jessie  (Signora  l\Iario),  201. 
White  House  (of  the  President),  223,  230,  232, 

238,  248,  251,  260,  383. 
Whitman,  Walt,  241. 
Whitney,  Eli,  53. 

Whittier,  J.  G.  (poet),  208,  209,  299,  300,  351,  352. 
Willey  house,  45. 
William  IV.,  91,  384. 
Williams,  Dr.  C.  H.,  304;  Roger,  307. 
Williamsburg  (Va.)  asylum,  258,  271,  374. 
Wilson,  Henry,  Senator  and  Vice-President,  225. 
Windows  in  Cuba,  217;  in  Stephansfeld,  179;  in 

Turkey,  331. 
Wiunenthal,  Germany,  179,  183,  337. 
Winslow  family,  43,  44. 
Wisconsin  system  of  State  care,  276. 
Wisdom  of  the  ancients,  viii,  164,  189,  271,  374. 
Wise,  Henry  A.  (of  Virginia),  227. 
Wise,  Dr.  P.  M.,  162. 
Woman's  lot  in  life,  26,  35,  99,  291,  292. 
Women  among  the  Quakers,  16,  25,  46,  65-68, 

84. 
Women  recovered  and  relapsed,  373,  376. 
Wood,  Dr.,  224. 
Woodward,  Dr.  Rufus,  356. 
Woodward,  Dr.  S.  B.  (American  alienist),  ix,  x, 

xii,  154,  166,  310,  374,  376. 
Worcester,  Mass.,  mentioned,  ix,  xvi,  i,  25,  29, 

32,  39,  42,  44,  52,    144,  154,   186,  206,  217,  261, 

264,  276,  310,  372,  374,  385-387.  394- 
Wordsworth,  quoted,  306. 
Worthington,  Dr.  (American  alienist),  300. 


Wright,  T.  and  J.  Turnpenny,  149. 

Wrong  theories  of  medical  treatment,  145,  167, 

iSg,  267,  270,  277,  2S4,  302,  311,  374. 
Wyman,  Dr.  (American  alienist),  ix. 

X.,  Mr.  (paretic),  1S8. 

X.,  Miss,  her  letters,  2S6,  289. 

Xenodocheion  in  Attica,  126,  127. 


Yale  College,  52,  53. 

Yams  in  Charleston,  191 ;  in  Cuba,  203. 

Yankee  farmers,  11,  51,  208,  351. 

Yankee  phrases,  36,  45,  51,   142,  211,   216,  224, 

257- 
Yeardley  family  of  England,  90. 


EX  409 

Yearly  meeting  of   Quakers  (America),  10,    j8, 

22S,  292,  3S3. 
Yearly  meeting  of  Quakers  (England),  17,  66,  76, 

80,  85,  88. 
Years  of  waiting,  186,  187,  220,  315. 
York,  England,  retreat  at.  So,  270,  297,  302-304, 

324.  374>  375- 
Young,  Dr.  Edward,  14,  15. 
Youthful  recollections  of  Dr.  Earle,  7-16. 
Yumuri  in  Cuba,  214. 

Zeitschriftfnr  Psychiatrie,  167,  180. 
Zeller,  Dr.  (German  alienist),  179,  337. 
Zurich,  asylum  at  (Burgholzli),  253,  275,  276. 
Z'wa7igst!M    ("tranquillizing    chair"),   ix,    167, 
178. 


ERRATA. 


On  page  59,  for  "  25th  of  March  "  read  April ;  for  "  March  27  "  read  April  27. 

Page  61,  for  "  March  "  read  April. 

Page  278,  line  12  from  the  top,  read  convalescence. 

Page  279,  for  "  Fanny  "  Earle  read  Frances. 

Page  3S0,  Clarke  Earle  of  Paxton  was  the  step-i2X\iQx  of  Anthony  Chase. 


BIOGRAPHIES  BY  F.  B.  SANBORN, 
OF  CONCORD,  MASS. 

In  order  of  their  date  of  Publication. 

Henry  David  Thoreau.  In  the  Series  of  "American  Men  of 
Letters."     pp.  viii,  317.     Boston:   Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.     1882. 

Life  and  Letters  of  John    Brown,  of  Kansas  and  Virginia. 

pp.  viii,  645.     Boston:   Little,  Brown  &  Co.     1885. 

New  Connecticut.  An  Autobiographical  Poem  by  A.  Bronson 
Alcott.  Edited  by  F.  B.  Sanborn,  pp.  xxvi,  247.  Boston: 
Littie,  Brown  &  Co.     1887. 

Life  of  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe.  In  the  Series  of  "American  Re- 
formers."   pp.  viii,  370.     New  York:  Funk  &  Wagnalls.     1891. 

A.  Bronson  Alcott,  his  Life  and  Philosophy.  By  F.  B.  San- 
born and  W.  T.  Harris,  pp.  vii,  679  (up  to  p.  543  by  F.  B.  San- 
born).    Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.     1893. 

Familiar  Letters  of  Henry  David  Thoreau.  Edited,  with  an 
Introduction  and  Notes,  by  F.  B.  Sanborn.  (A  New  Biography.) 
pp.  xii,  483.     Boston:  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.     1894. 

Memoirs  of  Pliny  Earle,  M.D.  With  Selections  from  his 
Diaries,  Letters,  and  Professional  Writings,  pp.  xvi,  409.  Bos- 
ton: Damrell  &  Upham.     1898. 

Damrell  &  Upham  also  publish :  — 

The  Curability  of  Insanity.     By  Pliny  Earle,  M.D. 

In  addition  to  the  above  works,  Mr.  Sanborn  has  edited  :  — 

The  Genius  and  Character  of  Emerson.  Lectures  at  the  Con- 
cord School  of  Philosophy,  pp.  xxii,  447.  Boston :  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co.     1885. 

The   Life   and   Genius   of    Goethe.     Lectures   at  the   Concord 

School  of  Philosophy,     pp.  xxv,  454.     Boston :   Houghton,  Mifflin 
&  Co.     1886.     (Out  of  print.) 

Prayers  by  Theodore  Parker.  A  New  Edition,  with  a  Preface 
by  Louisa  M.  Alcott  and  a  Memoir  by  F.  B.  Sanborn,  pp.  xxi, 
200.     Boston:   Little,  Brown  &  Co.     1882, 

Sonnets  and  Canzonets.  By  A.  Bronson  Alcott.  With  an  In- 
troduction by  F.  B.  Sanborn,  pp.  iv,  151.  Boston:  Little,  Brown 
&  Co.     1882. 

Poems  of  Nature.  Selected  and  Edited  by  Henry  S.  Salt  and 
F.  B.  Sanborn,  pp.  xix,  122.  London:  John  Lane.  Boston: 
Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.     1895. 


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